Coretta Scott

Actress Phylicia Rashad beautifully proves the power of the word and the voice in this short biography of Coretta Scott King. Rashad's clear, smooth voice delivers Shange's text with little embellishment. To praise the minimalism might mislead, as the spareness of text and expression emphasizes the power and poetry of this listening experience. The program shows a mastery of subtle effects--the soft sound of hands clapping, a wet footstep, or the swelling chorus of voices--creating a soundscape below Rashad's words. Paired with Kadir Nelson's illustrations of the hardcover book, this audiobook for all ages is a treasure and should not be relegated to the young. Coretta's epilogue biography, also read by Rashad, fills in some details and defines historical elements that enrich listener understanding. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 15, 2008
Nelson's (We Are the Ship)
jacket portrait of Coretta Scott, monumental and tender at the same time, sets the tone for this intimate picture biography. The artist's full-bleed paintings, powerfully molded and saturated with color, depict crucial moments in Scott's life: the morning when a “white school bus/ left a/ funnel of dust” in Coretta's face as she walked five miles to school; her marriage to Martin Luther King Jr., “two minds attracted in prayer,” their faces joined in double profile; the March on Washington, a mass of humanity around the Washington Monument, viewed from the air. Shange's (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf
) rhythmic lines and formal syntax roll like waves—“over years/ learning and freedom/ took hold of Coretta's soul/ till she knew in her being/ that the Good Lord intended freedom/ for the Negro”—carrying readers on a soul-stirring ride through Coretta's coming of age in the Civil Rights movement and her time as King's partner in it. “Singin' always singin',” Shange ends; Nelson shows the couple at the head of a line of marchers, and then, on the final page, in tight close-up, their faces patient and strong. Ages 4–9.