Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis written skillfully by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated beautifully by James E. Ransome, is a fascinating story about how a boy who picked cotton in Troy, Alabama with his mother, father and nine siblings developed into an effective Civil Rights leader who believed love must be part of change. Growing up he took care of the family’s chickens and taught himself to read by studying the Bible.
One day when he and his father went into town he saw “whites only” signs on drinking fountains and eating counters. After visiting family members who lived freely in Buffalo, New York, John knew he must work to correct the situations back home. In 1956 he first heard Martin Luther King on the radio, and by 1963 he joined him as a speaker at the March on Washington where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
John Lewis was arrested more than 40 times as he worked for civil rights--always based upon love. The illustrations of his 1965 march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery are alive with Lewis’s determination to be full of love even as armed state troopers violently took the protesters to jail. Many were hurt including John Lewis. The illustrations are brilliantly put forth here. The Author’s Note and the Time Line at the back of this handsome book are both outstanding!
John Lewis was the United States Representative for Georgia’s 5th District for 17 years. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2011. John Lewis died on July 17, 2020.
Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis is a beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated book for readers 4-8 years of age (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon and Schuster) 2024.
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Activity Questions for Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis
Younger Readers: Study the double spread showing John Lewis, his mother and father and his nine brothers and sisters in the front yard. What is John doing with the chickens in this picture? Can you image him talking to the chickens? Draw your own picture of John Lewis as a young boy talking and preaching to the chickens.
Older Readers: “Nonviolence is love in action.” What did this sentence mean to John Lewis? What does this sentence mean to you? Read this book once more, then write a paragraph explaining just what this powerful sentence means to you.
Look through the illustrations in this book again. What illustration sticks in your mind? Why?
