Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rappaport

Rappaport’s spare, gripping text and Collier’s distinctive collage-and-watercolor illustrations depict King’s life journey with reverence and dignity — beginning with his childhood experience of seeing “White Only” signs throughout his hometown, presenting his efforts as a civil rights crusader, and ending abruptly with his assassination. The front cover of the book immediately conveys King’s power and spiritual strength, consisting entirely of a lifelike portrait of him — the title and the author’s and illustrator’s names are relegated to the back cover. As Collier says in his illustrator’s note, he “tried to push [the imagery] to an emotional level that allows the reader to bring his or her own experience to it, without actually losing the intensity or the intention of the story.” His technique is utterly effective.