My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Genre: Biography

This book is a good example of a biography because it is written about the actual life of Martin Luther King Jr., through the eyes of his older sister (the author), Christine. It accurately describes the life, in a brief way, of Martin Luther King Jr. The point of view of this story

is first person, because the author is telling about her brother using the form 'I'.

Level: Intermediate

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LibraryThing member sarabird

Chris Soenpiet did a great job on the illustrations for this book. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sister, Christine King Farris, narrates this story about growing up with the Civil Rights activist. She lets us see his mischieveous side and how he was compassionate throughout his whole life. This is a

great story to read to students while studying about the more serious aspects of MLK's adult life.

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LibraryThing member ecugary

Christine writes my brother Martin telling the story of growing up with her brothers A.D and Martin Luther King Junior. Christine talks about her relationship she and her brothers had with their mother and father and what an influence their grandmother and aunt had on all of them. The story tells

of the time when the brothers’ white friends were told they couldn’t play with them because they were white. It had never mattered before that day, and the situation had a profound impact on Martin. After questioning his mother about the situation, Martin tells his mother “I’m going to turn this world upside down.” What a powerful statement for a young boy.

I loved this book. The story has a powerful message and provides an avenue to address racism and the concept of equality.

After reading the book students will examine Martin’s quote “I’m going to turn this world upside down.” Students will spend some time researching the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. and write informative essays on what he did to turn the world upside down.

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LibraryThing member sharmon05

The retelling of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life is what makes this book an excellent biography. It is written by his sister and focuses on their childhood. The text in this book is also directed towards younger children so they can eaasily read and understand. The illustrations in this book are also

amazing. They are large pictures that show great detail, particularly the emotion the characters felt. These illustrations enhance this story even more by giving the story movement and color.

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LibraryThing member jhill06

Critique: This is a good example of a biogrphy because it is set in the past when MLK Jr. was a child. It tells of real events that his older sister was there for and gives specific details about his life such as when he told his mother that he would "turn this world upside down".
Genre: Biography

LibraryThing member GWES.Second

Looks at the early life of Martin Luther King, Jr., as seen through the eyes of his older sister.

LibraryThing member rbelknap

This book was a wonderful example of a biography because it is written by Christine King Farris who is the older sister of Martin Luther King Jr. This is a good example of a biography because it really tells about Martin Luther King Jr. and the reader gets to understand who he was as a person and

what made him the person he was. In this book she talks about her brother's life. you get to hear stories from his childhood and how he went on to rally for equality.
Media: Oil paint
Age Appropriateness: Primary, Intermediate

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LibraryThing member RochelleRobinson

This touching story is of Martin Luther King and his fight for freedom for african americans. His passion for peace carries you through each page. Martin Luther King's sister shares her memories of her famous brother, who served endlessly and tirelessly for the cause of freedom and unity.
I really

enjoyed this book. As an african american I can truly appreciate the road Martin Luther King has paved. His powerful speeches and marches are amazing to me. This was an amzing book of courage, hope and strength.
As a classroom extension we would discuss the life of Martin Luther King. I would invite the children to share their feelings on this moving story. We would discuss Martin Luther King's dream and then talk about "our" dreams. What are we passionate about? What would we like to see change?

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LibraryThing member aezeek

I read My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin King Jr. as my second read-aloud narrative book. I chose an MLK book becasue the students just completed their African American research projects because February was black history month. I also thought the book was

interesting because MLK's sister, Christine, recounts about their childhood and what is was like growing up with a brother who was to become one of the most famous Americans of all time. I feel that we always hear about MLK's amazing accomplishments he made in the civil rights movement, but we never hear about his childhood. Christine does a great job of showing us that MLK was just a regular boy who liked to do normal kid activities. The illustrations in this book are breathtaking and add an immense amount of detail and thought.

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LibraryThing member carpeapr

“My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” This African American biography shows the timeline of young boy by the name of Martin who loved to have fun and play with his friends, both black and white. What he didn’t know was he grew up in a time

where blacks and whites playing together were unacceptable. This sparked him to try to change this. He went on to becoming a very known activist for the advancement for black people, and even said a speech called, “I Have A Dream” in Washington, D.C in front of thousands. Because race was such a big issue during the 50’s and 60’s, a black man being so powerful became problematic for white people. As a result, he was gunned down outside of his hotel room. What Martin didn’t know was his death became a high advancement for black people, which was his dream. Eventually his dream of blacks and whites playing together became a reality. This is a good representation of an African American biography because through showing different adversities and obstacles Dr. King faced, along with a strong message of persistence, optimism and faith, made this a strong biography.

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LibraryThing member mwflood

An amazing read! It was a great first hand account of one of the most important men in not only African American history but American history in general. I felt like I saw the moment that Dr. King began his journey towards racial unity. Amazing how what may appear as just another moment in time

changes ones course and in turn changes all of history's course.

A must have in a young readers collection to show them their experiences today may lead to greatness tomorrow.

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LibraryThing member Tammie14

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because of the first-hand account from King’s sister, illustrations, and the message. It was nice to read about Martin Luther King Jr. from his sister’s point of view and what it was like to grow up together as young children. I enjoyed learning about King as

someone’s mischievous little brother who scared adults with his grandmother’s fur piece and other funny anecdotes. The illustrations in the book brought the story to life. I especially liked the illustration at the end depicting a little white girl and black girl holding hands, laughing, and playing. A book is always more enjoyable when it makes you think, and this book made me think of little Martin the boy and how he grew into Martin the man. “My Brother Martin” drives home the message of how it felt to grow up in this country during the era of segregation and how a little boy grew up to fight those injustices and “turned the world upside down”.

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LibraryThing member missbrandysue

This book shares childhood stories told from the viewpoint of Martin Luther King's older sister. She shares some of the funny and mischievous things MLK would do.

The poetic form is well done and allows for the book to be used in a variety of formats in the classroom. The playfulness of the book is

very nice and paints MLK in a great light. More than anything I have to praise the ILLUSTRATIONS! They are wonderful! I got this book at the book store at the MLK National Historical Park in Atlanta, Georgia in the house next door to MLK's childhood home. The illustrations are almost like photographs of what can be seen at the site, including the fire station across the street and the row houses across the street.

The only that bugs me is a format error in the poem in the back! I wonder if you will catch it. But it bugs me SO BAD!

Overall, a good piece for the classroom shining light on a wonderful hero that all children should learn about.

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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26

Christine King Farris shares some of her childhood experiences with her famous brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in this lovely work of picture-book biography. From the mischievous fun that she and her two brothers, M.L. (Martin Luther) and A.D. (Alfred Daniel) would get up to together, to

the role of their grandparents in helping to raise them, this is a book full of family love. It is also a book about the injustice of segregation, which made itself felt early in the lives of the King children, growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. In a particularly poignant anecdote, Farris describes how she and her brothers would play with all the local children, including the sons of a white storeowner, until they were separated by race. She goes on to describe how her brother worked throughout his life to "turn this world upside down," challenging the evils of racism and segregation, to build a world where all are treated justly, and where all children can play together, regardless of race...

After finding Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier's Martin's Big Words such a deeply flawed book (see my review for more details), I have recently been thinking about which other picture-books about Martin Luther King, Jr. I would recommend in its place. Last week was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the states, and I decided to request My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to honor the occasion. It came in a little late, but I am nevertheless very glad to have read it. Not only does it offer a unique perspective on the childhood of one of America's most celebrated sons, but it delivers where the Rappaport/Collier title fails, in embodying the ideals of its subject matter. Given that this is a book which focuses on King's youth, and is in turn meant for the young, I thought the depiction of how racial segregation effected young people and their friendships was particularly on point. The story involving the erstwhile white friends of the King children was terribly sad, but the conclusion of the book, showing a black and white child running together hand in hand, offers hope, as well as a celebration of the changes that have occurred in American society. I really appreciated this approach, and think it makes for a wonderfully child-centered narrative about King and his vision.

When I think of the toxic discourse surrounding race that is becoming ever more common in some progressive circles these days - Ekow N. Yankah's recent New York Times editorial questioning whether it was possible for his children to have white friends springs to mind, in this regard - I also think this book highlights how far we have fallen from that vision. Still, the dream is not lost, and hope spring eternal. Farris' book is one that celebrates and promulgates that dream, and is one I would wholeheartedly recommend to any picture-book readers seeking titles about MLK. Not only is it both educational and well-told, it features lovely artwork from illustrator Chris Soentpiet. For my part, I think I will keep on exploring the picture-books about Martin Luther King, Jr. that are available, to build up a body of works that I can recommend, in this area.

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