When was the last time you met someone you could truly look up to? As a role model? A mentor? A hero?

As a children’s writer, when I began to research the life and times of Frederick Douglass, little did I realize my life would never be the same. Along my journey, I didn’t just read biographies about Frederick Douglass, I read his own writings…his books, his speeches, and the articles he wrote. They were life-changing.

By the time I finished writing my own biography about him, I had also visited the area he was born, the plantation where he was enslaved, and the home he lived in near Washington DC as an influential voice in America. I walked in his footsteps along the path he took on his daring escape to freedom.

Frederick Douglass was the Martin Luther King Jr. of the American Civil War. He truly believed one person could make a difference. So he did. For our nation and for freedom and equality for all.

He was a man of decisions and dared to do what no one else would do. When it was against the law for a slave to learn to read, he dared to learn to read and write. As a young man, he dared to escape from slavery. As a fugitive, even though his life was endangered, he dared to stand up and fight for freedom. His brilliant speeches, powerful articles, influential books, and strong actions motivated others to uphold the rights and freedoms found in the Constitution as the finest principles Americans could choose to follow.

Frederick Douglass was also a man of faith. He recounted as a young man, suffering under the brutal hardships of slavery, how he cried out to God. God met him personally in a powerful way. As an older man, the Civil War over and slavery abolished, Douglass shared the deeply moving experience of what it was like to have the opportunity to travel along the Appian Way and walk in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul.

Frederick Douglass is a true American hero. In an age when heroes are hard to find and inspirational role models are scarce, his is a life to learn about. As we honor Black History Month this February, especially in this election year, Frederick Douglass for Kids is an inspirational book to share in your home or in your classroom to motivate our next generation to take a stand for what is good and right.

Nancy I. Sanders is a best-selling and award-winning children’s author of more than 100 books. CLICK HERE to visit her website.