McDonough and Zeldis turn from Sisters in Strength (2000) to a leader of a different sort. “I have walked that long road to freedom,” Mandela rightly claimed after his 1999 retirement from public life. This tribute follows him each step of the way, from watching his father sacrifice possessions and high status rather than acknowledge the authority of a white judge, through his growth into an iconic anti-apartheid spokesman, to his hard-earned triumph. McDonough’s lengthy text mentions Mandela’s wives and children, but focuses more on his principles, and the strength of character that carried him through his long imprisonment. In Zeldis’s folk-art-style paintings, he and the figures around him sport odd-looking orange or pink noses, but Mandela’s growing stature is clearly conveyed, along with pivotal events in South Africa. The journey ends with a final pair of strong images: in one, he poses with a crowd and a large ANC flag; then, he is seen walking alone down a rugged path. The appended chronology ends with 1999, so this inspiring portrait can also serve as an updated replacement for Floyd Cooper’s Mandela: From the Life of the South African Statesman (1996). (bibliography, pronunciation guide) (Picture book/biography. 8-9)
