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Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis

Congressman John Lewis’s great oratory skills didn’t just develop overnight. Even when he was a small child he was practicing for what he thought would be a life in the ministry, although it eventually became a political career. Growing up on a farm in Pike County, Alabama, young John didn’t have many people around to serve as an audience, so he regularly preached to his family’s chickens, mimicking the ministers he had heard in church. And the chickens really seemed to listen to him. They “nodded and dipped their beaks as if they agreed.” Based on an anecdote Lewis included in his memoir, Walking with the Wind, Asim’s eloquent account is handsomely illustrated with E. B. Lewis’s sun- dappled, realistic watercolor illustrations. (Ages 4–8) ©2016 Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: 20th Century African Americans Biography Faith, Spirituality and Religion History (Nonfiction)
Diversity subject: Black/African Christian

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Publish Year: 2016
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780399168567

CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 920 Lewis