Martin & Mahalia: His Words, Her Song

The Pinkneys are masters at what they do.

There is no dearth of picture books about Martin Luther King, but this one is worth adding to the collection. Author Andrea Davis Pinkney weaves the story of songstress Mahalia Jackson into the more familiar MLK narrative, thereby giving readers a fuller sense of the energizing *feel* of the Civil Rights Movement. Part of Martin's magic was in the impact his words had on the people who heard them - and gospel singer Jackson successfully augmented that impact with her soulful voice.The words and images in this book practically dance together, helping convey a sense of the passion that King and Jackson managed to capture at the time. As an adult, this book showed me a perspective of MLK's movement I hadn't really thought or known about. While some of the language and meaning may be a bit lofty for children to appreciate it's full meaning, they will also learn about the different ways people contributed to the civil rights movement and the unexpected ways in which the arts (in this case music) can affect lives.I read this picture book with my daughter, but I think this would make a welcome addition to a classroom or school library as well.

At the American Library Association’s mid-winter Conference last month I spotted this new (2013) colorful children’s book about civil rights leader Martin Luther King and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson . It was one of a number of books on musicians and entertainers that I discovered. (The others are bios of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, both of which I reviewed on Amazon this week). Since I often write about folk music , early jazz and musical theater this title peaked my interest – well the Mahalia aspect did - and I got a copy.Though they were born 28 years apart, when they first met in 1955 – as part of the Montgomery, AL bus boycott – the lives of Jackson and King became intertwined. She sang at most of his civil rights rallies and together they lead the March on Washington in 1963.The authors (text and illustration) are husband and wife and were only young children when the 1963 event occurred but they have done their research. The colorful illustrations each fill both side-by-side pages (making the images look like a wide-screen TV image. A few of the illustrations were done so that you need to turn the book 90 degrees to read it. There is a 2-page essay by Andrea (who wrote the text) providing background on both King and Jackson, another essay by Brian (the illustrator) on why he chose certain images and color), A well-thought-out list of books for “further reading” and a selected discography to hear Jackson’s recordings. Lastly there is a two page “Timeline” with important historical dates, to put the story in perspective. All of this fills just 40 pages. But every page is used to its most effective use.This is an excellent tool to start a discussion of both the civil rights moment in America as well as showing how the power of words in a speech and the power of music in a performance can “change the world”.I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.Steve Ramm“Anything Phonographic”

What a gorgeous picture book, full of wonderful language. It's passionate, poetic, and rousing, with great backmatter!