The Legacy of John Lewis
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
A Paula Wiseman Books
(Simon & Schuster)
(pub.1.9.2024)
48 pages
Ages 4-8
Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Illustrator: James E. Ransome
Character: John Lewis
Overview:
" John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama to join the fight for civil rights when he was only a teenager. He soon became a leader of a movement that changed the nation. Walking at the side of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was led by his belief in peaceful action and voting rights. Today and always his work and legacy live on."
Tantalizing taste:
"John knew that standing up to segregation would mean hard work, but he also knew what years of marching up and down rows of cotton fields had taught him - that hard work meant long days and longer nights. So, after washing dishes in the school cafeteria to pay his tuition, studying late into the night, and practicing his sermons, John started marching."
And something more: Lesa Cline-Ransome, in the Author's Note writes: "Relentless, inspiring, undaunted, John Lewis was my hero. One of my greatest honors was meeting him in 2017 while attending a Black American Library Association event in Atlanta, Georgia. He was in person just as I imagined he would be - a gracious gentleman with a quick laugh.
Gone, but not forgotten, he and his loving legacy remind us all to keep marching."