Like Jacqueline Woodson's picture book The Other Side (2001), Patrick's quiet story, part of the Ready-to-Read Childhood of Famous Americans series, tells of childhood friendship threatened by adult prejudice at the time of segregation. This happens to be a true story--about a boy who grew up to be the great civil rights leader. The spare text tells how Martin's white friend says they can't play together anymore: Papa says colored and white can't mix. True to the period, Pate's realistic pastel illustrations show Martin's loneliness when his friend turns away from him. In contrast is the warm support in Martin's family. They talk about segregation, his dad says that friendship has no color, and Martin decides that he will change the rules and change people's minds. The spare text and moving pictures bring home the hard lesson, the hurt of the child, and the strength Martin found.

In this entry in a series that fictionalizes a childhood incident that affects the subject's future life, young Martin loses his best friend when Bobby's father says "colored and white can't mix." But while Martin's dad says "friendship has no color," and Martin vows to change people's minds. The story is unsentimentally told in a clearly written text; the realistic illustrations, appropriately somber, convey much emotion.

K-Gr 2-These books focus on an event in the early years of two famous Americans. In the first offering, a young King was told by his best friend that they could no longer play together because " colored and white can't mix." This experience inspired him to try to "change the rules." With lots of texture and touches of charcoal, the painterly illustrations have a nostalgic quality that effectively sets this story in the past. Winter describes how Revere and his friends started a bell-ringing club, voted on their own rules, and entered into a contract with a church to provide their services. This responsibility and dedication to helping his town were lessons that "gave Paul Revere ideas about how to become one of America's greatest patriots." Dodson's appealing artwork depicts the action and presents scenes of 18th-century Boston. Both titles feature short sentences and a simple vocabulary. Two additional purchases.-Gina Powell, Hidenwood Elementary School, Newport News, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.