A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation

As a new generation of activists demands an end to racism, A Place to Land reflects on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech and the movement that it galvanized.

Winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
Selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List

Much has been written about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington. But there's little on his legendary speech and how he came to write it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was once asked if the hardest part of preaching was knowing where to begin. No, he said. The hardest part is knowing where to end. It's terrible to be circling up there without a place to land.

Finding this place to land was what Martin Luther King, Jr. struggled with, alongside advisors and fellow speech writers, in the Willard Hotel the night before the March on Washington, where he gave his historic I Have a Dream speech. But those famous words were never intended to be heard on that day, not even written down for that day, not even once.

Barry Wittenstein teams up with legendary illustrator Jerry Pinkney to tell the story of how, against all odds, Martin found his place to land.

An ALA Notable Children's Book
A Capitol Choices Noteworthy Title
Nominated for an NAACP Image Award
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
A Booklist Editors' Choice
Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal
Selected for the CBC Champions of Change Showcase

Author: Barry Wittenstein
Publisher: Neal Porter Books
Published: 08/27/2019
Pages: 48
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 11.10h x 10.20w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780823443314
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.6
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 505260 / Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 06/01/2019 pg. 81
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2019 pg. 151
Publishers Weekly 07/15/2019
Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview 08/15/2019 pg. 65
School Library Journal 09/01/2019 pg. 142
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2019 pg. 121
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2019
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2019 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Barry Wittenstein is the author of several picture books, including Waiting for Pumpsie and The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: A True Story About an Accidental Invention (Really). He is pursuing a Masters in Childhood Education at Hunter College and lives in New York City.

Legendary author and illustrator Jerry Pinkney's many accolades include the Caldecott Medal, five Coretta Scott King Awards, five Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, four New York Times Best Illustrated Books, and four gold medals from the Society of Illustrators. He served on the National Council of the Arts, is a Trustee Emeritus of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and has taught at Pratt Institute, the University of Delaware, and the University of Buffalo. He lives in Westchester, New York.