A Sweet Smell of Roses by Johnson, Illustrated by Eric Velasquez

A Sweet Smell of Roses is the story of two girls who sneak away from their mother to join Dr. King and many others in one of the Freedom Marches. This would be a good book for introducing Civil Rights to younger children. The message is very positive and the threat of violence toward the marchers is only hinted at.

Eric Velasquez's pencil and charcoal drawings are amazing. Each picture has just the smallest hint of red either on a teddy bear's bow, a flag's stripes, or a rose's petals. The red just draws the reader deeper into the pictures.

A fantastic thought provoking book.

Keywords: Civil Rights, Freedom, Martin Luther King, protest