Little People, Big Dreams: Rosa Parks

Summary: This book (and others in the series like it) provides a historical narrative of prominent figures in history.  This story describes the life or Rosa Parks as a child and her involvement in the civil rights movement through peaceful protest.  It describes the bus boycotts and Parks’ fight for voting rights as well.

Literary elements at work in the story: The sentence structure and language in the book is simple enough for children to understand, but still a very difficult moment in history for children to grasp and understand.  It is appropriate for elementary aged children, perhaps best for children who begin learning about United States History in school.  The illustrations are lovely and simple as they portray segregation.  There are pictures of the separation of bathrooms and water fountains, and of Rosa refusing to give up her seat on the segregated bus. The back of the book has a timeline of Rosa’s life with actual photographs of her and a brief biography.