Title: The Cart the Carried Martin
Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: Don Tate
Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58089-387-9
Summary: This is a historical fiction picture book about the cart that was used to carry Martin Luther King Jr. to his funeral services. The story begins with people finding the cart, and then they have to borrow the cart from the store, because the store was never open for them to buy it. They painted the cart green, just like he would have wanted. The story then progresses through the journey that the cart makes, carrying Martin Luther King Jr.'s casket. In the end, readers learn that the cart was placed in a museum, so others could admire its great historical significance.
Evaluation: I liked this picture book. It was interesting to me that the book was about King's death, rather than about what he did. However, there were lines in the story that hinted at what King stood for. The story was actually more about the cart than it was about King himself, which was an interesting twist on the usual Martin Luther King Jr. stories that most children may be used to. The illustrations were done well. There was a lot of color, but nothing was too bright, as the book was related to a death. Overall, the book talked about a historical event, but took the event from a different angle, which made the picture book different from others on the topic.
Rating: I would give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The topic of this book is very interesting and unique. I would have never thought that there would be a book focused on the cart, which seems insignificant. However, it looks like this book provided some meaning to it.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a nice field trip for students if they could learn about the Civil Rights movement, read this book, and then actually get to visit the museum!
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