Picture Book #18--Rosa

Title:  Rosa

Author:  Nikki Giovanni

Illustrator:  Bryan Collier

Grade Level Equivalent:  5.1

Lexile Measure:  900L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Biography

Theme:  Stand up for what you believe in, even if you're the only one standing.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Rosa Parks, Jo Ann Robinson

Awards:  Coretta Scott King, 2006

Caldecott Honor Book, 2006

Date of Publication:  2005

Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc.

ISBN:   0312376022

Rosa tells the story of Rosa Parks, the woman who started a movement just by refusing to move to the back of the bus.  In the book, Rosa Parks is on her way home from work, thinking about what to make her husband for dinner, when the driver comes up and tells the colored people they need to move to the back of the bus.  Tired of putting up with the mistreatment from white people, Rosa took a stand and told the driver no.  After several of the white passengers on the bus say she should be arrested, the driver agrees and threatens to call the police.  Rosa Parks was arrested but this just reinforced the movement for the women and the colored people in the town.  They started a movement.  They boycotted the buses and walked wherever they needed to go, no matter the weather.  Rain, snow, heat--nothing could stop them.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. got involved and the movement spread.  In the end, because of Mrs. Parks refusal to get up, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses--or anywhere--was illegal. 

This book would be great to have in a classroom.  Especially during Black History Month.  It is very well written and the illustrations are amazing and lifelike.  I would love to have this book in my class to further a lesson on Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights movement.  The story shows that one person can be very powerful.  This book would be a great precursor to a creative writing assignment, as well.