This informational texts goes through Martin Luther King Jr's speech/beliefs and what people thought about him and his beliefs. It teaches about Martin himself and about other people as well. I would use this book as a read aloud but only to 5th grade and up. I feel the information in this book and words on each page is formatted for a mature audience.

This book is about Martin Luther King Jr’s speech but instead of what the speech means and what is about, this book is about how he came to write the speech itself. This book is useful for the classroom because it shows that not everything is as it seems for famous people. Sometimes greatness happens when you do not expect it. ( )

Goodreads Review:
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. Find out more in this gripping book with illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney.

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.

I definitely think this is a great book for students to read and learn a part of Martin Luther King Jr. story. The book has beautiful illustrations and gives a good insight into how the "I Have a Dream Speech" was created. it is an inspiring story and includes the topic of racism and human rights. This book would be a great read aloud for 1st graders and up. ( )

Author Barry Wittenstein and illustrator Jerry Pinkney tell the story of the writing and delivery of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington in this immensely moving, beautifully-illustrated picture-book. Opening the night before the march, the narrative follows King, who had not yet finalized his speech, as he confers with his advisors, and then spends the night wrestling with his words. On the day of the march itself, we see King begin his speech, only to put it aside at the urging of Mahalia Jackson, switching to a more preacherly mode full of fire and emotion. The book concludes with an extensive afterword, with notes from both author and illustrator, a list of people who helped with the speech or attended the march, a list of sources, and a bibliography...

Published in 2019, A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation is a powerful, deeply moving book, one which captures an important moment in King's life, and in the history of America and the Civil Rights Movement. The text is simple but emotionally resonant, and the artwork, done in graphite, colored pencil, watercolor and collage, is simply gorgeous - a true tour-de-force demonstrating Pinkney's great skill as an illustrator. As I mentioned in my review of Christine King Farris' excellent My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I have recently been thinking of picture-books about this iconic American that I would recommend, given my strong negative reaction to Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier's popular Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is definitely another that I could wholeheartedly recommend, together with the Farris book, as opposed to the Rappaport and Collier. Like the Farris title, it captures the true message of King's life and work, the way in which that message sought to bring all people together, in the struggle for a more just society. Unlike the Rappaport/Collier, which gives the impression that the white clergy was universally opposed to the Civil Rights Movement, and which omitted reference to any white participants, the back matter here explicitly mentions a variety of key figures - Jewish rabbis, Catholic priests, Protestant ministers - who participated in the 1963 march. Highly recommended, to any picture-book readers looking for works about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. It could pair very nicely with a more general work about its subject's life, or with the Farris book, which addresses MLK's childhood. ( )