This year I wanted to bring a stack of books that were about and also inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to my family. We found a wonderful stack of books about Dr. King, the Civil Rights Movement, and some of the other influential people in that movement as well. I also prioritized books that represented several genres and that would appeal to the different levels of comprehension we have in our home.
Jacqueline Woodson and James Ransome’s This is the Rope follows one family’s journey from the south to Brooklyn during the Great Migration. The main character describes her grandmother’s journey in the family car with a strong rope holding their belongings to the roof. The rope later serves many purposes- hanging clothes, drying flowers, and even playing jump rope for multiple generations. Both of my kids liked this book, and my older kid was able to go deeper to learn about why the family, and many others, moved to the North.
Both of my kids like reading Sit in: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. In it Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney tell the story of the sit ins inspired by the students at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. My youngest kid liked using the students’ first names and seeing how those four people inspired people across the nation to take action. Throughout there are references to Dr. King’s words about nonviolent protest. Both my kids liked following this story, and even my 4 year old was able to engage with the content here, declaring segregation, “Not kind!”
Alice Faye Duncan and R. Gregory Christie created a historical fiction picture book in Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop. In this, fictional Lorraine Jackson witnesses the Memphis sanitation strike that was Dr. King’s last major protest before his assassination. It’s better for older kids- the combination of prose and poetry were too much for my younger kid. I can see this being a book we come back to over the years and are able to glean more meaning as time goes on. It’s definitely one worth hanging on to.
Voice of Freedom:Fannie Lou Hamer by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes is a book of poems inspired by the life of Fannie Lou Hamer, who was a strong voice in the fight for civil rights. This was a great blend of information about her life and her role in the Civil Rights Movement, and told beautifully. I was glad we had read some other books of poetry before this one so that we weren’t grappling with different styles in addition to learning new facts, which I think enhanced our reading experience.
Innosanto Nagara’s A is for Activist is an alphabet primer for kids, but both my kids love this one. The illustrartions are simultaneously detailed and also simple. The words are the same- there are a few words for each letter of the alphabet that are connected to activism and also manage to engage young readers in thinking critically about their role in activism. Run to buy this one.
If you’ve been here a minute you know my older kid prefers graphic novels to any other books. When I saw this one, I knew she’d love it- and she does! Rachel Ruiz with Fiona W. Dunn and Sarah Skeate’s illustrations in Martin Luther King Jr: A Graphic History of America’s Great Civil Rights Leader share the life of Dr. King from the moments in his youth that inspired him through his death and our collective remembrance of his role in the Civil Rights Movement today. The language is perfect for my kid, and it’s a chapter book, so probably better for kids who can follow a story for a longer period of time.
I hope you find some new favorites in this stack. If you’re looking to own any of them, I hope you find my Bookstore shop helpful. I’ll make a small commission off any purchases you make there, so thanks in advance!