Seven million steps The true story of Dick Gregory's run for the hungry

Authors Barnes and Gregory begin this stirring account from the life of activist and comedian Dick Gregory (1932--2017) with a question: "No matter where you come from or what family you belong to.... what would you do if you knew someone who goes to bed every night without having supper?" In Morrison's dynamic oil paintings, a child puts their head down on a table, a figure in silhouette gazes into an empty refrigerator, and an adult and two children are shown alongside bare pantry shelves. To raise awareness about global food insecurity, Gregory proposes "what seems like a wild idea": running from Los Angeles to New York City while abstaining from nearly all nourishment. Leaving in April 1976, Gregory travels 50 miles a day on foot, at every stop touting the cause and at times joined by runners and even celebrities. Urgent second-person lines that invest readers in the protagonist's effort prove as elegant as the visuals of Gregory moving fluidly across a range of landscapes. It's a compassionate, powerfully told portrait that asks of readers, "Will you simply stand still... or will you run until you can't run anymore?" Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Contextualizing back matter and authors' notes conclude. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)

"What would you do if you knew someone who goes to bed every night without having supper?" With a second-person narration, Barnes and Christian Gregory (the subject's son) chronicle activist and comedian Dick Gregory's (1932-2017) "wild idea" to run from Los Angeles to New York City in 1976 to bring awareness to the problem of hunger in the United States. Gregory's goal was to cover fifty miles a day; his only nourishment was "fruit juices, vitamins, water, and maybe sunflower seeds" because "if they have to go without -- then so will [he]." At many of his stops, people gathered to listen to his message; spectators (including Muhammed Ali) joined him to offer encouragement and amplify his message. Gregory reached New York on the Fourth of July as the city was celebrating the country's bicentennial. The use of the second person allows readers to feel like they are a part of the trek, while Morrison's oil paintings provide a realistic interpretation of Gregory's run and the suffering of those experiencing hunger. In one resonant double-page spread, a Black mother holds a crying baby and child on the left-hand page while the right-hand page shows a cabinet empty except for a can of soup. Back matter includes an author's note that gives more context to Gregory's decision to run and the impacts of food insecurity. Nicholl Denice MontgomeryJanuary/February 2026 p.86 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In 1976, comedian and activist Dick Gregory ran from coast to coast to advocate for those without enough food to eat. "What would you do if you knew someone who goes to bed every night without having supper?" The authors pose that question before explaining Gregory's "wild idea" of running from the City of Angels to the Big Apple--seven million steps total. By consuming nothing but "fruit juices, vitamins, water, and maybe sunflower seeds," he plans to raise awareness about food insecurity. Written in second person from the perspective of an elder addressing a child, the text places readers in Gregory's sneakers as he runs 50 miles a day seeing "America from different angles." People diverse in age and skin tone start to run alongside Gregory--"a cavalcade of support" that includes Indigenous "brothers and sisters" and boxer Muhammad Ali. When the run gets tough, hazy images of faces appear in the clouds as if to cheer Gregory on, "step by grueling, glorious step." This collaborative picture book--cowritten with Gregory's son--joyfully brings its subject's voice to the mic and tracks the stops along the run where Gregory would address onlookers. The work's final question becomes a moving call to action--both to the Black child seen next to Gregory and to readers themselves. Morrison's dynamic artwork is a feast for the eyes, with detailed brush strokes rendering bodies in motion, gorgeous scenery, and expressive faces. An inspiring, kinetic look at an unconventional act of activism. (more information on Dick Gregory, authors' notes)(Picture-book biography. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.