Education Extra Bookpicks.

Byline: The Register-Guard

"My Brother Martin," by Christine King Farris; illustrations by Chris Soentpiet; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003.

Age group: 5 to 12

Most children today know Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a champion in the fight for civil rights for black Americans. Christine King Farris' goal in this book is to show that Dr. King was once a child, too.

Martin Luther King, called "M.L." by his family, was the second of three children. He grew up in Atlanta in a loving home surrounded by his parents, grandparents, aunt, older sister Christine and younger brother A.D. In this memoir of their childhood, the author tells her audience that her brother was a regular kid. He played Monopoly and Chinese checkers with his brother and sister and listened to his grandmother tell stories.

The King children enjoyed playing pranks. Once, when they were tired of practicing the piano, M.L. and A.D. loosened the legs on the piano bench but neglected to tell their piano teacher. The illustration in the book shows the teacher landing on the floor and the boys looking sheepish.

Sometimes the children would hide in the bushes and swing an "animal" - an old fur stole tied to a long stick - out in front of people walking by on the sidewalk, provoking screams.

The children had the advantage of a strong family and parents who modeled standing up for what was right. Their parents, whom they called Daddy and Mother Dear, tried to shield the children from the harsh reality of racism, but when the white neighborhood boys told them they couldn't play with them anymore because they were Negroes, the children were hurt. M.L. asked his mother "why white people treated colored people so mean." Mother Dear answered that white people didn't understand that all people are really the same, but someday they would. M.L. replied that someday he was going to "turn this world upside down."

In creating the warm, realistic illustrations, Chris Soentpiet worked from the actual locations that were significant in Dr. King's childhood. At the end of the book, a poem by Mildred D. Johnson encourages all children to find their own possibilities. There's also an informative author's note.

Pair this book with "Martin's Big Words" by Doreen Rappaport (Hyperion Books, 2001), and other books about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

- By Susan Jewett, librarian, Riverbend Elementary, Springfield