Let the Children March

This iconographic-animated adaptation of author Monica Clark-Robinson’s and illustrator Frank Morrison’s 2018 children’s book serves up a slice-of-life portrait during the Civil Rights movement. Narrated by Janina Edwards, Let the Children March is set in Birmingham, circa 1963, when a young girl experiencing segregation ("I couldn’t play on the same playgrounds as the white kids") hears Martin Luther King Jr. speak in church, with "his brown eyes flashing like fire and love." While her folks worry about losing their jobs for openly protesting, the girl and her brother volunteer to march and sing with other young people, despite days of police water hoses, violence, and overpacked jails. Providing important dates and looking at benchmark moments in the historic "Children’s Crusade," this is a poignant tribute to kids who risked much to stand up in the face of callous adults. Including a read-along option and a timely afterward suggesting ways to make a difference today, this is recommended. Aud: E, I, P. (J. Williams-Wood)