[My publisher is giving away my book, Mountain Chef along with John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall over at Page Through the Parks on Facebook. There will be five winners–so go comment on the giveaway post to enter!] I had seen Martin’s Dream Day mentioned on a few lists, so I was happy when my library got it, but I expected it to be illustrated.

So I was surprised to open it and discover page after page of sharp, vivid photographs. All were shot by Stanley Tretick, and most are from the day that King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the National Mall in Washington DC. Tretick is the photographer who captured John Kennedy Jr. playing under his father’s desk in the oval office. In these photos he has an equally sharp eye for telling details–the women in high heels, the people trying to escape the heat by soaking their feet in the Reflecting Pool. I especially loved the faces of people in his photographs.

Kitty Kelley’s prose is straightforward and does a good job of contextualizing the “I Have a Dream” speech. But the real treasure in this book is the photos. It would be an interesting book to read along with Joel Meyerowitz’s book Seeing Things.  

Martin’s Dream Day is a book to savor.

Martin’s Dream Day by Kitty Kelley, photographs by Stanley Tretick. Atheneum: 2017.

I participate every Wednesday in the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at Kid Lit Frenzy.