The Dream Builder's Blueprint
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Home > Children's Books > Poetry, anthologies, annuals > Poetry > The Dream Builder's Blueprint: Dr. King's Message to Young People
The Dream Builder's Blueprint: Dr. King's Message to Young People

The Dream Builder's Blueprint: Dr. King's Message to Young People


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About the Book

Publishers Weekly, starred review
Booklist, starred review

This riveting found poem for kids based on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Street Sweeper” speech is creatively interpreted in this nonfiction picture book written by acclaimed author Alice Faye Duncan, accompanied by gorgeous artwork by award-winning illustrator E. B. Lewis.


In a speech delivered in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. provided his young audience with life lessons:

  • You count.
  • Black is beautiful.
  • Achieve excellence.
  • Make a better world.
  • Believe in nonviolence.
  • Keep going!

Today, award-winning author Alice Faye Duncan reinterprets King’s speech as a motivational erasure poem in The Dream Builder’s Blueprint, accompanied by spirited and inspired art by Philadelphia-born illustrator E. B. Lewis. Highlighting principles of excellence, activism, and compassion that remain relevant and necessary today, this book has a universal message that’s ideal for parents, librarians, and teachers looking for a book that distills Dr. King's principles to a level that kids can understand.

Included in the book is an author’s note that explains found poetry forms like the erasure poem and provides background information on the Civil Rights movement and Dr. King’s inspiring speech at Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High School.

About the Author :
Alice Faye Duncan is the author of Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop, which received a 2019 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and five starred reviews; Coretta’s Journey, which was a 2023 Horn Book Fanfare Book and a Eureka! Nonfiction Childrens’ Honor Book; Traveling Shoes, and many more books for young readers.

Caldecott Honor and five-time Coretta Scott King award-winner E. B. Lewis is the illustrator of more than seventy books for children. His recent titles include Invincible, which was nominated for the Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Awards, Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem, which received four starred reviews and was a Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of 2024, and The Soldier’s Friend.

Review :
★ “To create this moving erasure poem about nonviolent protest and more, Duncan works with the text of an October 1967 talk that Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) gave at South Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High... Lewis combines gouache, markers, and watercolor with tissue paper to offer images of progress... It’s a work poised to offer crucial guidance on how to build a meaningful life and contribute to the world.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “It is essential that readers understand and appreciate the author’s process of creating an erasure poem, as described in the front matter, before proceeding through this remarkable book. Lewis’ illustrations are bold and impressionistic, filled with an energy that underscores the words. The Dream Builder’s Blueprint is a model for writing with precision and intent, and a tribute to a man who knew the power of words—by an author who clearly does as well.”—Booklist, starred review

★ “This book is a librarian’s or teacher’s dream–a creative and educational take on a subject that is an important part of children’s education. Duncan hones the major themes of the speech (which she encourages readers to watch on YouTube) into easily digestible bits that fit the format of a picture book and that leave lots of room for discussion. Lewis’s freeform artwork, done in mixed media of watercolor, markers, colored tissue and gouache, plays with patterns such as doors, books, cotton bolls, and stairs to create an impressionistic take on the poem... what a great discussion starter for elementary school classrooms.”—Youth Services Book Review, starred review (Rating: 5)

“Uplifting... inspiring reading... (with) Lewis’ evocative images... pithy, rousing, and never more cogent.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Highlighting principles of excellence, activism, and compassion that remain relevant and necessary today, The Dream Builder's Blueprint has a universal message that's ideal for parents, librarians, and teachers looking for a book that distills Dr. King's principles to a level that kids can understand.”—Shelf Awareness

“Using short but powerful sentences, the poem focuses on what your life's blueprint should be... The illustrations are wonderfully abstract, supporting the poem and allowing the words to soar.”—Tasha Saecker, Assistant Director at Appleton Public Library, Appleton, WI

“Listening to the words of Dr. King that day at Barratt Junior High is something I will never forget. I still have a vivid picture of him that will NEVER be erased. His words were an inspiration to me and my classmates.”Kevin Washington, former National President and CEO of the YMCA and Barrett 8th Grade Class of 1967

The Dream Builder’s Blueprint is a loving road map to hope for young people in troubling times. In found poetry drawn from Dr. King’s speech during a Philadelphia junior high school visit in 1967, the book joyfully uplifts his message of peace and purpose for a new generation.”Yolanda Wisher, Philadelphia Poet Laureate, 2016–2017


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781662680311
  • Publisher: Astra Publishing House
  • Publisher Imprint: Calkins Creek
  • Height: 286 mm
  • No of Pages: 32
  • Returnable: Y
  • Sub Title: Dr. King's Message to Young People
  • Width: 226 mm
  • ISBN-10: 1662680317
  • Publisher Date: 06 Jan 2026
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y
  • Spine Width: 7 mm
  • Weight: 435 gr


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