“Protest is American by definition!” asserts this vivid and timely picture book. From the Boston Tea Party to more recent efforts to stop damming the Klamath River, Americans have spoken out, marched, boycotted, and fought “When rights need expanding or wrongs need repair.” We have spread our messages through art, song, and words; gone to court; engaged in nonviolent actions, and more, and each spread of this colorful book focuses on a different type of protest, giving young readers plentiful real examples of each one.
The first Pride parades are here, along with marriage equality and Keith Haring’s Unfinished Painting, made to raise awareness of AIDS—but we also see how people have pushed for workers’ rights, Black people and women’s rights, disability rights, environmental protection, birthright citizenship, and more. There are events you’ve likely heard of, like the push for women’s voting rights, or the Brown v. Board of Education case that desegregated schools, but also lesser-known ones, such as a 1968 strike by Black sanitation workers in Tennessee for better working conditions and an end to racist treatment.
Author Rachel C. Katz uses playful rhymes to carry the heart of the story, but prose call-out boxes add details about the events mentioned. At the end, young readers are encouraged to “find your personal mission” and join a long tradition of working against injustice.
Backmatter is plentiful, including a timeline, map, and further information about the people and protests in the main text.
While any such overview of American protests is understandably selective, it feels somewhat odd that the First Pride Parades are here, but there is no mention (even in the backmatter) of the Stonewall Riots, the iconic LGBTQ protest whose anniversary became the first Pride parade. I know, though, that tradeoffs of content and emphasis have to be made in any volume of picture-book length. There’s more to every protest movement here, even though Katz manages to pack in a surprising amount. If readers and their adults use the book as a jumping off point to learn more, however, about Stonewall or anything else, it will have done its job. In its wide scope, lively illustrations, and enthusiastic message, it’s a highly recommended volume.
