The World Turned Upside Down: My Brother Martin and Martin's Big Words

Making meaningful the deeds of a famous man or woman for very young children is not an easy task for an author. Here are two outstanding biographies in picture book format which bring the boy Martin and the mature Martin's words to life for young readers.

"As the sole survivor of the family into which Martin Luther King, Jr., was born, I feel it is important to share some true, funny, and intriguing elements of Martin's earlier days," writes older sister Christine King Farris, and in her picture book memoir My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Aladdin, 2003) she fulfills that promise well.

"Our days and rooms were filled with adventure stories and Tinkertoys," she writes, of her childhood on "Sweet Auburn" Avenue in Atlanta as she grew up with her two younger brothers, Martin and A.D. Although their parents worked hard at their careers as pastor and musician, the King children were always looked after by their grandmother and their Aunt Ida, who filled them with "grand memories of their childhoods." Even though they were preacher's kids, the three were not always angelic: one of her stories of the two boys has them loosening the legs to the piano bench to bring their piano lessons to an uncomfortable crescendo as their teacher crashed to the floor. Another prank involved sneaking out their grandma's lifelike fox fur stole, complete with feet and glass eyes, and dropping it down suddenly on unwary pedestrians from their hiding place in the bushes along the sidewalk.

Christine also tells the poignant story of Martin's being turned away by his white playmates' mother, who told him that since he was "colored," it was time for them to go their separate ways. When his mother comforted the saddened little boys by explaining the ways of segregation, Martin asserted, "One day I'm going to turn this world upside down."

And so he did.

Christine King Farris describes a close extended family who valued their children well, giving them good educations and a strong sense of their own value. Her simple but elegant narrative is beautifully illustrated by Chris Soentpiet, who used young relatives of Martin Luther King as models for the three King children, with Mrs. Farris portraying her own grandmother and her granddaughter posing as the young Christine King herself. The Rockwellesque portrayals of the King family and the detailed paintings of the Auburn neighborhood are alive with the warm glow of memory.

"When I grow up, I'm going to get to use big words too," the young Martin Luther King, Jr., once said.

Doreen Rappaport uses a unique format in her picture biography, Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Hyperion, 2001)

An eyewitness to some of the major events in King's life, Rappaport takes his well-known words and uses them to tell the story of his times and work. With each double-page spread she pairs a quotation with a period in King's life. For example, in the spread telling the story of King's study of Gandhi's non-violent philosophy, we see his words:

"Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that."

In the two-page spread dealing with the march from Selma and the 1963 March on Washington, we see

"Wait! For years I have heard the word 'Wait.'
We have waited more than 340 years for our rights."

This format, ably illustrated by Brian Collier's evocative collages, tells the story of King's short life simply but meaningfully, so that children can understand that although Martin is gone, "his big words are alive for us today."