Martin Luther King

The colorful folk-art paintings of Zeldis (Honest Abe) again pay tribute to an American hero, this time accompanying text by a first-time children's author. Bray's able biography recalls key moments from the childhood of Martin Luther King Jr.: she describes the very young Martin's astonishment when a white friend is not allowed to play with him because he is ``colored''; she shows him at 14, honored for having written a prize-winning essay about black people and the Constitution, and yet forced to give up his seat on the bus to a white man. The significant events of his adult life are also accessibly recapped. Zeldis's illustrations demonstrate her characteristic power. For the Montgomery bus boycott, for example, empty buses go back and forth, framed in a window through which Martin and Coretta King are watching. Later, a crowd watches a larger-than-life Martin deliver his ``I Have a Dream'' speech; in the background are such symbols as a lion lying down with a lamb. This fruitful collaboration effectively introduces young readers to the life of a great man; the unusual art may persuade those already familiar with his story to see it in a new light. Ages 7-up. (Jan.)