Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks by Courtney Baker is a picture book biography of Parks’ life.  The reader will notice right away that the illustrations are full bleeds bringing him/her right into the life of Rosa Parks.  This picture book is a great social studies resource.  It goes through Rosa Parks’ life from a child to her bus boycott.  The topic of segregation of course is one that must only be read when students are ready for it, but with standards, this occurs pretty early.  It is a great book to have in a classroom library as students could read it and become interested in her and then do independent research projects into different aspects of her life.  The tone of the story is very positive, which is good for elementary students, however many social studies educators may argue that it does not portray in all fairness the struggle of Civil Rights and the dirty stuff that went along with that struggle.  The debate about how much children should read or know about that is up to the reader, but just know that this does have a positive tone skipping some of the more negative aspects of segregation.  Students will enjoy reading about Rosa Parks’ life and how she was brave despite being jailed.  Her courage and integrity is something that all students would benefit reading about.