Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today’s the day Americans honor the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.. It’s a great opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss the valuable lessons of equality, compassion, and understanding to children of all ages.

I’m continually amazed at the wealth of information available for children on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. You’ll find books that remember the injustices Dr. King fought, the message of change through nonviolence, what’s it’s like to be a child of the civil rights movement, and even how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era.

Here are just a few…

Cover of Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Child of the Civil Rights Movement
Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history. With an activist father and a community of leaders surrounding her, including Uncle Martin (Martin Luther King), Paula watched and listened to the struggles, eventually joining with her family—and thousands of others—in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

Cover of Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
Reading Level: Young Adult

This award winning book by Phillip Hoose highlights 15-year-old Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Although Colvin received some help from local civil rights leaders, it was Rosa Parks who, later that year, sparked the famous bus boycott. Find out how Colvin played an important role in the civil rights movement, but was largely lost to history because some felt she was not suitable to be the public face of a mass protest.

Cover of Let Freedom Sing

Let Freedom Sing
Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Vanessa Newton’s illustrations in Let Freedom Sing capture the struggle for freedom and highlights those who let their light shine for civil rights. Taking the lyrics of `This Little Light of Mine,’ the book sends the wonderful message of hope and how each of us can make a difference to young readers.

Cover of Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!
Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Fourth grader Mary Elouise Avery struggles with being chosen as narrator for Gumbo Grove Elementary School’s  annual Black History month play. She wants more than anything to be the narrator of the President’s month play and feels she was only chosen because of her color. Needless to say, she dislikes the role. Mary wishes she was lighter in skin tone like her classroom idol, Brandy, and replaces her black dolls in favor of white dolls. The story sends the message to “love yourself for who you are”  and by the story’s end, Mary Elouise looks very differently at her heritage.

Cover of Spies of Mississippi

Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement
Reading Level: Young Adult

This book had me as soon as I read spy network–just like I’m sure it will any young reader. The Spies of Mississippi tells the story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era.  Rick Bowers provides first hand accounts from civil rights leaders and you’ll get a peak into how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on church-goers, and spies even spied on spies.

Looking for some great nonfiction titles on Martin Luther King Jr.? Nonfiction Monday takes place at various wonderful blogs throughout the Kidlitosphere! Today, you can check out the Roundup at Wendie’s Wanderings. If you’d like to see the schedule for Nonfiction Monday, please visit Anastasia Suen’s Picture Book of the Day.