We Dream a World: Carrying the Light from My Grandparents Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King

Adolescent activist King affirms the hopes of her late grandparents in this ambitious declaration about honoring their legacy. Addressing “Granddaddy and Grandma,” the book’s speaker alludes to their famous dream (“we should be judged by what’s in our hearts, not by the color of our skin”) before noting that “that dream—and so many others—lives deep inside me.” Subsequent pages muse on whether young King intends to follow in her elders’ footsteps, offers appreciation for their work and her heritage, and envisions a new world “where guns are not games.... where poverty is a memory,” and which offers “liberty, justice, and food for all.” Against Tadgell’s watercolor backdrops of historic stands against injustice, King rides a rainbow and plays among peers portrayed with various skin tones, images that suggest a hopeful future in which “we dream a world.” An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)