RISE UP!

From the Boston Tea Party to demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the United States was founded on protest movements and continues to evolve because of them.

Vibrant, richly colored gouache illustrations depict bold scenes of American resistance throughout history. Katz presents an array of iconic protest movements in no particular order. Bass’ swirling images detail iconic moments, sometimes reminiscent of famous photographs, like that of Ruby Bridges descending the stairs of her newly integrated school or Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial. An informative text box is laid atop the illustration of each movement, lending historical context. Rhyming couplets offer an upbeat, singsongy overview of each movement, which will appeal to a young audience. Further information overlaid atop the images dives deeper, providing context to encourage more nuanced conversations with a caregiver or teacher and cleverly extending the text’s target age range. More in-depth, bulleted explanations within the extensive backmatter will endear the book even to older elementary readers, though without references to source material, students will have to seek primary sources elsewhere. The protests highlighted in the text represent a wide range of time periods and racial and cultural backgrounds.

A moving historical protest primer that invites even the youngest readers to rise up and fight for what’s right.