Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down - Andrea Davis Pinkney

Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Little Brown & Co., 2010
$16.99
40 pages - one folds out
Endpapers: plum

A powerful piece of the history of America, an integral chink in the chain that made up the timeline of the Civil Rights movement, the Greensboro sit-ins are eloquently described in this powerful picture book.

"We must . . . meet hate with love." (MLK Jr.)

On February 1, 1960 - 50 years ago - four black college classmates sat down at a Woolworth's counter for a cup of coffee and donut. They were ignored. FOR WHITES ONLY. They were peaceful...patient...quiet...polite. They sat and sat and sat. They were never served. The next day, more students showed up at the counter. The word spread. Well-behaved, well-dressed young people began to sit at lunch counters all over the south. Eventually, people took notice. And just like the bus boycott that Rosa Parks had begun five years before by not giving up her seat, a huge message was sent --- and heard.

The Civil Rights timeline at the end of the book is excellent.

I wish I liked Brian Pinkney's illustrations more. He uses slashes of black to outline the figures and predominant details, then a water color wash swirls throughout. Much clearer and less confusing that Chris Rashka's illustrations, but still a little too free-form for me. However, this husband-wife teamwork is pretty cool.