Published by Quill Tree Books


Summary: When Thoroughgood Marshall was in second grade, he decided to change his name to Thurgood. Growing up in Baltimore, he saw plenty of other things he wanted to change in his segregated city. After attending college and law school, Thurgood worked for the NAACP, where he argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court, where he became the first Black justice. Includes a timeline; additional information on Thurgood Marshall’s major court cases; a list for further reading; and a bibliography. 40 pages; grades 2-5.
Pros: It’s a tossup as to which Thurgood Marshall picture book biography I would choose…this or the Jonah Winter/Bryan Collier collaboration Thurgood (2019). This one packs a lot of information into 40 pages and has excellent back matter, probably giving it an edge as a book for research.
Cons: Most reviews recommend this for readers as young as 4 or 5. If you want to try it out in a kindergarten class, more power to you, but I think it would have greater interest and impact with older kids.