The Cart That Carried Martin

September 30, 2013
Bunting’s (Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?) impressionistic, dramatic recreation of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral procession covers much of the same ground as Belle, The Last Mule at Gee’s Bend by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud (2011). In clipped prose, Bunting writes of the weather-beaten farm cart borrowed for the job (“Its paint had faded.... Nobody wanted it”) and of the thousands who came out to pay final respects: “The church throbbed with the sounds of singing. The songs were not sad, but there was a terrible sadness in them anyway.” Tate’s (Hope’s Gift) loose pencil and gouache art balances emotionally charged close-up images of mourners with broader scenes in which crowds flank the mule-drawn cart on its journey through Atlanta. In a birds-eye view of the scene at King’s alma mater, Morehouse College, a vast, gray sea of people fills the school’s quadrangle for a second memorial service. The final pages reveal the cart’s current home and further emphasize the humility of a vehicle “that, not so long ago, carried greatness.” Ages 6–9. Illustrator’s agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

November 1, 2013

K-Gr 2-Bunting's quietly sorrowful prose is rather like free-verse poetry, maximizing the power of the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral with minimal language. This event needs no adornment; from the soaring hymns sung in Ebenezer Baptist Church to the size of the crowds along the procession route to the humble farm cart that carried King's body, the details of the day speak forcefully to the impact of this man on society. Bunting focuses in particular on the rough-hewn cart, borrowed from a junk store and given a coat of green paint for the procession from the church to Morehouse College. The cart was hitched to a pair of mules and guided through the streets of Atlanta, carrying the civil rights leader's body past thousands of mourners, whose hushed reverence is echoed in Bunting's sparing, soft narrative. Tate also employs a quietness in his artwork. Whereas bold colors would suit a book about King's activism, the soft wash of the illustrations is appropriate to his silenced voice and the stillness of his grieving followers. This beautiful presentation, centered on a humble detail, is a gentle, stirring introduction to what Martin Luther King, Jr.-and his loss-signified.-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR

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