Martin Luther King Day 2009

The celebration of Martin Luther King Day in 2009 has special meaning, coming as it does the day before the inauguration of the nation's first African American president, Barack Obama. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I'd like to highlight some of the best children's books about African American freedom fighters. Among them are:

• Martin's Big Words, a wonderful, oversize picture book biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., which was written by Doreen Rappaport and has dramatic and moving cut paper collage and watercolor illustrations by Bryan Collier; and
• I Have a Dream, which contains the text of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eloquent 1963 "I have a dream" speech, along with artwork by fifteen Coretta Scott King Award/Honor Book illustrators.

Other books I recommend include: Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, Portraits of African-American Heroes, Through My Eyes, the story of Ruby Bridges, and Ida B. Wells, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. If you have children's books about African American freedom fighters to recommend, click on "Comments" below and share their titles and other information or post information on the About.com: Children's Books Forum. Thanks.

(Cover art courtesy of Dutton Children’s Books, A Division of Penguin Young Reader’s Group)