Book cover image:
Book Summary: After
a day of hard work as a seamstress, Rosa Parks was released from work early to
enjoy her day and take care of her sickly mother. She entered the bus and sat
in the “neutral” section, where blacks could sit if their seats in the back
were full. When the bus driver demanded that Rosa and the few black people to
move from their seats to make room for white arrivers, only Rosa refused. She
was tired of being pushed around by white people. It was time to make her
stand—by sitting down. She allowed the bus driver to call the police and arrest
her. Encouraged by Rosa’s stand, a group of women in the Women’s Political
Council created bus boycott posters, and they recruited Martin Luther King Jr.
to be their peaceful bus boycott leader. A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that segregation on buses was illegal, and we have Rosa Parks to thanks
for changing what was unjust in the land.
APA Reference of Book:
Giovanni, N., & Collier, B. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
Impressions: I
have heard Rosa Park’s story many times and have even read a lot of her
autobiography, but I did learn new sides to the story on this read, especially
regarding what the Women’s Political Council risked in order to promote the bus
boycotts in Montgomery. The illustrations are beautiful, and they present the
story’s seriousness. The colors used also are the ones I typically connect with
a 1960s television show or music video, so the use of them to present this time
period and its unrest is very smart. This is a great book for teaching students
about the Civil Rights Movement and about standing up for what is right.
Professional Review:
Rochman, H. (2005). Rosa. The Booklist, 101(19), 1797.
Gr. 3-5. Far from the cliché of Rosa Parks as the
tired little seamstress, this beautiful picture-book biography shows her as a
strong woman, happy at home and at work, and politically aware ("not tired
from work, but tired of . . . eating at separate lunch counters and learning at
separate schools"). Her refusal to give up her seat on a bus inspires her
friend Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women's Political Council, and the 25
council members to make posters calling for the bus boycott, and they organize
a mass meeting where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. speaks for them.
Paired very effectively with Giovanni's passionate, direct words, Colliers
large watercolor-and-collage illustrations depict Parks as an inspiring force
that radiates golden light, and also as part of a dynamic activist community.
In the unforgettable close-up that was used for the cover, Parks sits quietly
waiting for the police as a white bus driver demands that she give up her seat.
In contrast, the final picture opens out to four pages showing women, men, and
children marching for equal rights at the bus boycott and in the years of
struggle yet to come. The history comes clear in the astonishing combination of
the personal and the political. -Hazel Rochman
Library Uses: This book can be used to begin a thematic reading
unit on the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Park’s actions on the bus created a
ripple effect in the movement toward African-American rights in the United
States. Students will discuss "What ifs?" and analyze the effects of character actions, such as what would happen if Rosa
had not done each of these actions or had not said what she had said?
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