I am John Lewis

by Brad Meltzer, Christopher Eliopoulos (Illustrator)

Overview

The late Civil Rights activist and Congressman John Lewis is the 29th hero in the New York Times bestselling picture book biography series for ages 5 to 9.

This book spotlights John Lewis, known for his role in the Civil Rights Movement, having helped organize the March on Washington and the Selma Voting Rights March, and for his lifelong dedication to public service as a member of the House of Representatives. John Lewis was never afraid to get in good trouble.

This friendly, fun biography series inspired the PBS Kids TV show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. One great role model at a time, these books encourage kids to dream big.

Included in each book are:  
• A timeline of key events in the hero’s history  
• Photos that bring the story more fully to life  
• Comic-book-style illustrations that are irresistibly adorable  
• Childhood moments that influenced the hero  
• Facts that make great conversation-starters  
• A virtue this person embodies: John Lewis's resolve to fight for a better world is celebrated in this titleYou’ll want to collect each book in this dynamic, informative series!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593405949
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/17/2023
Series:	Ordinary People Change the World Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	79,886
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Brad Meltzer is the New York Times bestselling author of Heroes for My Son, Heroes for My Daughter, The Lincoln Conspiracy, and a number of suspense novels like The Lightning Rod. He also helped find the missing 9/11 flag with his is History Channel television show Brad Meltzer's Lost History. He lives in Florida with his wife and their three children.

Christopher Eliopoulos began his illustration career at Marvel Comics, and has worked on thousands of comics, including the graphic novels Cosmic Commandos and Monster Mayhem. He is the author/illustrator of the picture books The Yawns Are Coming! and The Giggles Are Coming! He lives in New Jersey with his wife and their identical twin sons (when the boys are home from college).

Hometown:

Florida

Date of Birth:

1970

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A., University of Michigan; J.D., Columbia University

Website:

http://www.bradmeltzer.com

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2023

K-Gr 2—This new installment in the "Ordinary People Change the World" series covers the late Congressman John Lewis's early life, his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, and a few facts about his life in office. In young Lewis's first-person narration, children learn how he "liked making things better" as he was growing up on a farm in Alabama, but how his parents repeatedly told him to "stay out of trouble" when he noticed the staggering racial injustice around him. Inspired by his grandmother's example of peaceful resistance, Lewis sought to "get into good trouble, necessary trouble" by trying to get a library card that he was denied, then participating in many nonviolent sit-ins, protests, and marches. The digital cartoonish illustrations are stylistically reminiscent of characters from "Peanuts" and "Calvin and Hobbes," depicting the difficult historical realities in a more approachable way, mixing full-bleed spreads with some comic book panels and speech balloons. Meltzer's prose also presents the brutal facts and events in a muted manner, although it does occasionally diminish the powerful and inspiring example of Lewis's life and message. Back matter includes a time line and photos. VERDICT While somewhat less sanitized than some of the others in this series, this is still a mixed bag in terms of tone and presentation of a charged period in history underlying an accessible if imperfect biography.—Yelena Voysey

School Library Journal