Heroes for Civil Rights

by David A. Adler, Bill Farnsworth (Illustrator)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader. Fannie Lou Hamer, founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. The Little Rock Nine, pioneers in social integration.
Whether marching, speaking, or simply going to school, these brave men and women fought to advance social justice. David A. Adler's moving biographies and Bill Farnsworth's evocative paintings honor these Americans who risked their own lives so that others could enjoy their rights.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2007

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heroes for Civil Rights tells the stories of twenty-six men and women who, risking reprisals even death, dared to take action against the unjust laws the governed much of the American South. Many of these people are now well-known heroes, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Abernathy, and Medgar Evers, but author David A. Adler also includes some less well-known people, too.

Wonderful stories of strength and courage and daring.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad introduction to various key players in the Civil Rights movements. What kept this from being a five star book was that there was no real chronological order outside of the timeline at the back, which helps but doesn't quite give the sense for where things fell that being chronological might have helped.

I did like the short bios and the illustrations for each. This is just enough information to whet the appetite to go and look up more information. Some interesting choices too - people that I wasn't real familiar with in some cases.

[Lady reading under the Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were short sketches of leaders and other prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Admittedly, they were a bit dull, but gave a factual overview of each person that could be used as a reference resource. But as a read-aloud or to pique interest in the individuals presented, it fell a little flat. At least it gave us some names and faces that we could research further, and try to find living biographies on these people.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a series of brief bios of prominent figures in the Civil Rights Movement, arranged in alphabetical order with portraits of each person or group (e.g., Little Rock 9) by way of illustrations. The text is rather dry and suited for more experienced readers, but the book encapsulates an important period in American history through descriptions of key actors who made change happen. End pages include a chronology of events, reference notes, and a selected bibliography.

[Logan Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Reaction:
A teacher could really utilize this book for a social studies unit on the civil right movement. I enjoyed this book because it covered many famous activist, but it also went in detail about some heroes who you have most likely have never heard of such as Fred Shuttlesworth, etc. The story is also full of beautiful and intricate oil paintings that supplement the heroes description as well. This is a great book for an overview of the civil rights movement due to the detailed, factual information on each hero, as well as a timeline to help the reader understand how the events unfolded.

Purpose/Use in Classroom:
This book would be primarily used during a social studies unit due to the plentiful information on specific people that live through this time. This book would be most beneficial as a read aloud because a teacher could read about a person or two each day and then go into the event that they helped cause/fix. There are many nonfiction conventions such as the introduction note which opens for the book explaining some of the issue of this time. The book also contains a timeline, which could assist the reader in understanding how the events unravelled.

[Libby.dorger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each page of this book gives a short background on 13 different civil rights heroes/groups who were extremely influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Some of these heroes include Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Thurgood Marshall, but the book also sheds light on some commonly forgotten inspirations like the Greensboro four who began the sit-in protest in a drug store in North Carolina or Earl Warren, the Supreme Court justice who convinced his fellow justices that Jim Crow laws should be declared illegal. The illustrations are beautifully colored portraits on each page.

[Angie Kohout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: A user friendly compilation of major civil rights leaders. Each page has a new leader as well a painting of that leader.

Setting: United States

Characters: List of civil rights leaders.

Point-of view: Informational.

Theme: Historical non-fiction, civil rights.
Style: Historical non-fiction

Would be a great book if students were investigating civil rights movement for black history month.

[Crista Goluch · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I like about thise beautifully illustrated story is that it gives a mini-biography of many people who were pormoninent in the civil rights movement. All types of angles are looked at here from kids attending high school, to Rosa Parks, to Supreme Court Justices. The reader is given insight to so many areas that this is definately a must read companion book to every Civil Rights unit.

[Sunday · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good supplement to other picture books that introduce some of these "heroes" like Ralph Abernathy so briefly. One page on each person - many recognizable names like Rosa Parks and then other less well recognized, but just as significant names like Fannie Lou Hamer.

[Christine Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite children's books on the Civil Rights Movement.
J 323.092 Adl

[Judy Desetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great addition to our library. Brief one page biographies that can be read aloud to kids. Great way to have discussion starters and then further research for older students.

Recommend

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good presentation of a lot of people involved with the Civil Rights movement.