My Uncle Martin's Words for America: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Niece Tells How He Made a Difference

by Angela Farris Watkins, Eric Velásquez

In this inspirational story about Martin Luther King Jr.—told from the perspective of his niece Angela Farris Watkins—readers learn how King used his message of love and peace to effectively fight for African Americans’ civil rights.

Focusing on important words and phrases from his speeches, such as justice, freedom, and equality, Watkins uses King’s language to expose young readers to important events during the civil rights era. The simple yet striking text, along with a timeline and glossary, makes this book an accessible tool for helping a young audience learn about the importance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of nonviolence and his contributions to American history.

Genres: History, Biography, Picture Books, African American, Nonfiction, Social Justice, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Lynn]

Excellent children’s book for kids 2nd grade and up. Students loved it and cheered Martin’s attempts to change unjust laws. The booed that he was out in jail. One out a stuffed animal up in front of martin’s face during the I Have A Dream speech so he had a body guard.

[Shelby]

As I was reading this book, I didn't realize that Angela Farris Watkins is actually MLK's niece. I thought that was an interesting aspect. The book also includes a lot of vocabulary words and it includes definitions. I think this book would be a great teaching tool.

[Sunah Chung]

Martin Luther King Jr.’s works and inspirations were illustrated from the perspective of a young child.
There are various versions of informational picturebooks which contain the historical events and facts about African Americans’ civil rights movements. It is needless to say that children’s literature needs to be diverse in order to guide children’s attention towards the topics of justice and equality. In this regard, this picturebook conveys the significant concepts of nonviolence, justice, freedom, and equality. Each concept was narrated from the perspective of a girl in concise and powerful language. However, if I were the author, I would add some challenges which Martin Luther King Jr. confronted and did not lead to successes at that time. At the end of the book, the author summarized the protests that Martin Luther King Jr. led and resulting changes from the protests. In reality, all the right things would not end up with positive changes. Instead of listing the achievements, some failures would encourage children to have hope to do what they think would be right.

[Crazy Librarian]

This picture book opens with an acknowledgement of the successes of African American individuals, and then discusses life under segregation and the rise of the civil rights movement. Framed around the concepts of love, nonviolence, justice, freedom, brotherhood, and equality, this book follows the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership in the civil rights movement.

My Uncle Martin’s Words is ideal for guided reading and whole class read alouds; once introduced to the book, students will appreciate the opportunity to review it independently; the realistic illustrations are highly engaging.

The text is accessible for Junior reader, and provides a detailed overview of the events portrayed, such as the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Montgomery, Alabama public transit boycott and following Supreme Court ruling, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voter Rights Act. There is also a glossary, bibliography, and list of related books for young readers.

Themes include: LEADERSHIP, DIVERSITY, PREJUDICE, EMPATHY, A QUEST FOR PEACE, RACIAL HARMONY

[Carmen Redding]

An excellent book for children. This book reminds adults that words matter and it can teach children that using words like brotherhood, justice, and love can be a powerful agent for change. While these words can bring life and change, the opposite is true of words like violence and hatred. Violence and hatred are agents of suffering and death.

It’s never too early to teach children to love. I highly recommend this book.

[Evan Teter]

This book, written by Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, goes over King's efforts to end segregation. It doesn't discuss his whole life, or a bunch of specific things that he did, but it shares some of his stances and thoughts, how violence wouldn't solve things, only love. I think this could be a good book to introduce the topic of MLK for middle elementary schoolers.

[Sandy Carmichael]

This is an excellent book to teach younger children about Martin Luther King, Jr and all he did to help change America.

[Rebecca Caufman]

Quick read filled with powerful vocabulary. Digital copy available on EPIC.

[Anna Stokkeland]

Informative for all ages- Martin Luther King Jr
I wish for the current marches- protests take this approach for non violence and Love

[Barbara]

In engaging style from an insider's perspective, the niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. gives her version of how the great man used words to change the world. By beginning with the changes that many of us are likely to take for granted such as an African American president or a Supreme Court justice, Watkins provides perspective on just how far we actually have come since the days of Jim Crow laws and segregation. The text highlights the words that mattered to King and the words that comprised his message, including love, nonviolence, justice, freedom, brotherhood, and equality while describing the protesting, marching, speaking, and writing that would make a change in practices and laws, effectively insuring that civil rights would be protected by law. The illustrations are appealing and eye-catching, showing the human side to this famous figure. Back matter including notes from the author and illustrator as well as a timeline showing how protests resulted in changes in the law, a glossary, and additional references adds to this picture book's appeal. This one would fit well with a text set using Doreen Rappaport's Martin's Big Words.

[Kourtnie Bussey]

"My Uncle Martin's Words for America" is a wonderful book that captivates the era of the civil right movement. Martin Luther King Jr's niece, Angela Watkins, reminisces on how much of a leader her uncle was. Dr. King was a man that loved everybody. He saw the solution in everything and was against violence. This narrative does a good job of telling the story from a close perspective. It focuses on the Jim Crow laws that African Americans had to abide by. African Americans were mistreated just because of the color of their skin, and Dr. King wanted to do something about it. The author, Angel Watkins, relates to the culture and the story line of this book because it is a true narrative. I would love to read this book in my class because the author does a great job of capturing the heroic side of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

[Carrie]

This was a very informative book about Martin Luther King Jr. by Angela Farris Watkins. I thought it was very interesting that Angela Farris is actually the niece of MLK. Watkins wrote the book in first person point of view, and she gave her readers a good introduction for what America was like before her Uncle Martin made his impact. It is very helpful for young readers to have a glossary for the more advanced vocabulary, and some definitions are even embedded in the story! It is a great book for students to read for history class as they learn about the great MLK. To give praise to Eric Velasquez, he did such a phenomenal job with the illustrations! The drawings are so realistic and nicely drawn that they look almost like photographs. It is a fantastically composed book, and I would highly recommend for teachers to use in their history class for younger children!

[Julie]

Many books have been written about the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His niece, Angela Farris Watkins, has provided an insider's perspective of the power of his words and his works. This book is a great primer on the impact that MLK had on working for civil rights. Eric Velasquez's powerful illustrations perfectly suit the simple yet strong text. In addition, the book includes an extensive glossary and bibliography, as well as a chart that tracks the changes resulting directly from his non-violent protests. This book would be a wonderful companion to Martin's Book Words.

[Clare Masullo]

This beautifully illustrated account of Martin Luther King Jr.'s political action is an incredible story told from a unique perspective, that of his niece. The story deals with the issue of Civil Rights, and is not merely a biography of MLK Jr., rather a story about his influence and his ideas. Important words like “justice” and “nonviolence” are highlighted throughout the text. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and coincide with the text. It is a powerful read. I enjoyed how the author chronicled his activism, and also provided insight into the movement and the important ideas.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

Themes: Biography, Civil Rights

Characters: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was more than a man who spoke the words, "love, nonviolence, justice, freedom, brotherhood, and equiality." The perspective of a young family member's view is helpful for other young readers understanding of who was this man and how he changed America. The extra pages at the end of the book are also very insightful. There is an author's note, an illustrator's note, a timeline, glossary, bibliography, related book list, illustration captions, and an index.

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Lynn]

Leans strongly to 5 stars. A wonderful addition to MLK books. Extremely useful for a number of CCSS in reading non-fiction. Emphasis on key concepts with clear examples will give younger students a deeper understanding. Supportive back matter, especially useful is the double timeline showing the protests and the resulting changes in laws. Rich illustrations. I wonder who decided which famous African Americans to include. Even though their names and endeavors are listed in the back, I doubt many youngsters will recognize very many of the people shown, thus I will stand to my four stars.

[Steve Holden]

A great book to post on here on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This is written by Martin's niece, and powerfully displays images famous to Martin's life appropriately to young students. We wrapped up our unit on Tuesday morning with this read aloud and discussion. Students were very engaged with this book as a read aloud, and they were able to connect the events of his life we had already learned about with some of the quotes and focused words in this book.

This is a great addition to any unit on civil rights and/or Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

There are some wonderful books on Martin Luther King and this is definitely one to add to the list. Sometimes it is hard to find a book that will explain who Dr. King was and what was his message. This does a wonderful job of making MLK accessible to young children (grades 1-2). Partner it up with Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rapport.

[Judy Desetti]

This was a fabulous read. I wasn't sure I needed another title on Martin Luther King Jr, but this one is a MUST BUY. It touched on most of the high points of Martin Luther King's life. I liked how they used words love, brotherhood, nonviolence, justice, freedom, equality to weave together the biography. Illustrations are well done too.

[Olivia]

A simplified summary of the life of MLK. The pages are not too wordy and include buzzwords that have been bolded. This would be a good introduction for a child about the fight for civil rights. Some of the concepts have been simplified for a younger audience, such as the reasoning behind a nonviolent protest, but those omissions only help the story be more for kids.

[Franki Sibberson]

One of the best picture books about the work of Martin Luther King I have seen. It is very accessible to children--it explains so many of the things he fought for and explains the concepts behind his big messages.

[Jen]

Love. Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom. Brotherhood. Equality. Thank you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you Ms. Angela Farris Watkins for presenting these big ideas so clearly. Thank you Mr. Eric Velasquez for creating such mesmerizing images.

[Miss Melissa]

Wonderful illustrations, but the prose was not engaging.

[Lynn]

Great for explaining to younger kids!

[Sarah Herrington]

One of my favorites recently. Lots of big words and big concepts.

[J.]

AR Quiz No. 150471 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 5.0 - AR Pts: 0.5

[Amanda Boschee]

My Uncle Martin's Words for America: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Niece Tells How He Made a Difference by Angela Farris Watkins is a wonderful biography for children to read. The story tells the story about Martin Luther King Jr. and the impact he made in the world. The book was written by Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece as she explains her perspective on her Uncle Martin's life. The outline follows how a normal biography for adults would follow. It goes through many significant events of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and explains each ones importance.
This biography of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life is different from most because it is written by his niece in her perspective and writing it for other children in the for of a children's picture book. This is a wonderful difference because it allows children to learn about MLK's life in the format of a biography, but in a way that children and young students can follow along and understand as well. The eye catching painted illustrations with the beautiful colors make the book more kid friendly as well, making this book a great way to introduce MLK and the story of his life along with interesting information to young children.