With Martin Luther King Jr. day around the corner we wanted to share a small roundup of our favorite children's books that focus on Dr. King.
These books all touch on Dr. Kings transformative and powerful non-violent activism approach but they also touch on the qualities and moments that made Dr. King a full person. There is a book written by his son, a book that focuses solely his powerful "I Have a Dream" speech and yet another that focuses on his role in amplifying community voices in the quest for equal rights.
As always we encourage parents to pre-read the books before sharing with your child as every child's preparedness and emotional capacities are different and as a parent you know your child's level of comprehension best. We often find ourselves going through our children's books first by ourselves and sometimes just highlighting certain words or passages to share at different times. Much like in our magazine our approach to reading and educating is based on a scaffolding approach. We feel that scaffolding allows for you as a parent to move at your child's pace while still centering honesty, anti-racism, and empathy.
1. The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine Platt
2. Be A King by Carole Boston Weatherford
3. My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King III
4. A Place to Land by Barry Wittenstein
5. Memphis, Martin, and The Mountaintop by Alice Faye Duncan
6. Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
We hope you enjoy this roundup and if you have any other great books that honor Dr. Kings life send them our way!