A Critique of the book, Listen To My Dream by Debi Pearl
In December of 2009 the Pearls published the book Listen To My Dream, a children’s level biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. The book is published by Pearl Books, LLC.
The book covers the life of King from childhood through his death in 1968 and is written as a narrative poem. It opens with King asking his mother why he was black and wasn’t treated like others. His teacher inspired him to dream big dreams and to influence others for good. He decided that was just what he would do.
At that time the Negroes, or ‘colored’ as they were called then, were not given the same freedoms as other people in the south. Then when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person and was arrested, King organized a boycott of the Montgomery bus system until blacks were treated the same as others. Ultimately this ended in the 1956 decision by the Supreme Court that made racial discrimination illegal.
The book is lilting in its poetic meter and, as far as it goes, does a good job of presenting the value of setting good goals and letting nothing hinder you from reaching them. The poem ends with King’s funeral following his murder in Memphis, April 4, 1968.
Listen To My Dream is a 40 page book written in two parts. The first poetic part, as mentioned above, outlines King’s life and influence in bringing about racial equality. Part two gives more details about the civil rights movement and how King influenced it; this part is written as a narrative and has no pictures.
The first part of the book is fully illustrated with drawings made by the author and her husband. At times the poem only hints at something and then, a detail is given on the picture. For example, the one who encouraged him to dream big was his teacher, Miss Lemon, from Oglethorpe Elementary.
Listen To My Dream does a good job of focusing on King’s work to eliminate legal discrimination. In this he is certainly worthy of recognition. Please visit the book’s website at http://www.listentomydreambook.com/ to find out more, including best places to purchase a copy.