Plus get our latest book recommendations, author news, and competitions right to your inbox.
Table of Contents
About The Book
Five starred reviews!
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
The “informative, resounding” (Booklist, starred review), and “inspiring” (The Horn Book, starred review) story of a groundbreaking civil rights leader John Lewis comes to life in this compelling and beautifully told, “excellent” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) nonfiction picture book by the award-winning team Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome.
John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama to join the fight for civil rights when he was only a teenager. He soon became a leader of a movement that changed the nation. Walking at the side of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was led by his belief in peaceful action and voting rights. Today and always his work and legacy live on.
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
The “informative, resounding” (Booklist, starred review), and “inspiring” (The Horn Book, starred review) story of a groundbreaking civil rights leader John Lewis comes to life in this compelling and beautifully told, “excellent” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) nonfiction picture book by the award-winning team Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome.
John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama to join the fight for civil rights when he was only a teenager. He soon became a leader of a movement that changed the nation. Walking at the side of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was led by his belief in peaceful action and voting rights. Today and always his work and legacy live on.
Reading Group Guide
Join our mailing list! Plus get our latest book recommendations, author news, and competitions right to your inbox.
By clicking 'Sign me up', I consent to Simon & Schuster sending me email offers and updates, including offers for a free eBook. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time. Any offer for an eBook may be subject to exclusions, terms, conditions, and registration with our fulfillment partners. We collect and use your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Free ebook offer available to NEW AU subscribers only. Offer redeemable at Simon & Schuster's ebook fulfillment partner. Must redeem within 90 days. See the full terms and conditions.
This is a sample of reading and discussion questions from a curriculum guide, available for free download in the Resources and Downloads tab.
Discussion Questions
1. Who was John Lewis and what was he like as a boy? As a college student? As a young man?
2. What did John care about? How do you know?
3. When did John first begin fighting for Black people's civil rights?
4. What were some of the civil rights events John organized and participated in?
5. Why did John choose to practice nonviolence, using only peaceful ways to solve problems?
6. How did John's work help the Civil Rights Movement?
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: LOVE IN ACTION
1. what does it mean to fight with love? Why did John Lewis believe so strongly in this?
2. Faith is believing in something even if you can't see it. How did John's faith help him fight for civil rights?
3. What happened in John's childhood that helped him to do civil rights work when he was older?
4. What lessons or ideas can we take from John Lewis's story?
For many more discussion questions and extension activities based on Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis by Lesa Cline-Ransome, check out the Curriculum Guide below in the Resources and Downloads tab.
Discussion Questions
1. Who was John Lewis and what was he like as a boy? As a college student? As a young man?
2. What did John care about? How do you know?
3. When did John first begin fighting for Black people's civil rights?
4. What were some of the civil rights events John organized and participated in?
5. Why did John choose to practice nonviolence, using only peaceful ways to solve problems?
6. How did John's work help the Civil Rights Movement?
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: LOVE IN ACTION
1. what does it mean to fight with love? Why did John Lewis believe so strongly in this?
2. Faith is believing in something even if you can't see it. How did John's faith help him fight for civil rights?
3. What happened in John's childhood that helped him to do civil rights work when he was older?
4. What lessons or ideas can we take from John Lewis's story?
For many more discussion questions and extension activities based on Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis by Lesa Cline-Ransome, check out the Curriculum Guide below in the Resources and Downloads tab.
About The Author
Photo by John Halpern
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of numerous nonfiction and historical fiction titles for picture book, chapter book, middle grade, and young adult readers. Her One Big Open Sky was both a Coretta Scott King Honor book and a Newbery Honor book. Her picture books include Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis, Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams, and The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne. Her verse biography of Harriet Tubman, Before She Was Harriet, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and received a Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor, Christopher Award, and Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration. Her debut middle grade novel, Finding Langston, won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and received the Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband and frequent collaborator, James Ransome, and their family. Visit her at LesaClineRansome.com.
About The Illustrator
Photo by John Halpern
James E. Ransome’s Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis was called “a warm tribute” by Kirkus Reviews and “highly recommended” by School Library Journal, both in starred reviews. His highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor Book The Bell Rang, Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, Reading Rainbow Book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He is on the faculty at the School of Visual Arts in the MFA Illustration Visual Essay program. James frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. They live in New York’s Hudson Valley region with their family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: A Paula Wiseman Book/Beach Lane Books (January 9, 2024)
- Length: 48 pages
- ISBN13: 9781534496637
- Ages: 4 - 8
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
*"A deeply informative biography of the great civil rights leader, John Lewis, is added to this team’s award-winning bibliography. Careful, lively details will draw readers into Lewis’s story.... A strong biography on John Lewis, this is a highly recommended volume will complement the civil rights shelves as well as collections on Black Americans who worked within and occasionally outside the political establishment but always for the good of the country."
– School Library Journal, (starred review), 1/19/2024
*"A kid-lit powerhouse team delivers a warm tribute to a civil rights icon known for making good trouble. ... Lewis’ life and work will feel immediate and deeply personal to readers. An excellent depiction of a life lived with purpose."
– Kirkus, (starred review), 11/15/2023
*"Ransome’s distinctive illustrations, created with a combination of found, printed, and purchased paper with pencil drawings, perfectly match Cline-Ransome’s telling and dramatically radiate the magnitude of Lewis’s influence."
– The Horn Book, (starred review)
*"The creators offer a thoroughly contextualized account of the racial segregation Lewis experienced, his work in nonviolent resistance at the Nashville chapter of the NAACP, his involvement with the Freedom Riders, and his famously standing “for everyone who needed someone to stand up for what was right."
– Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
*"An informative, resonating entry point to learn about Lewis and his continuing impact. "
– Booklist, (starred review)
Awards and Honors
- ALA Notable Children's Books
- CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Books of the Year
- Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Intermediate Title
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
-
Book Cover Image (jpg): Fighting with Love
Fixed Layout eBook 9781534496637
-
Author Photo (jpg): Lesa Cline-Ransome Photo by John Halpern(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
