Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.

by Jean Marzollo

Illustrated by Brian Pinkney

We really enjoyed this book about Martin Luther King! When we read the very first page, my daughter noticed that his birthday was January 15th, which is tomorrow! She immediately asked if we could have a birthday celebration for him. As we read through the book, I was very impressed with how the book was written with a young child in mind. The only part that I skipped over was that he was shot and killed. In the introduction of the book, Marzollo even acknowledges that "it isn't, after all, necessary to tell very young children the harsh details about Reverend King's death in order to convey to them the central message of his inspirational leadership" and even suggests to simply say that Martin Luther King "died" in 1968. We really enjoyed this book and I feel that it was very age-appropriate for my kids.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Doreen Rappaport

Illustrated by Bryan Collier

We read this book in preparation for Martin Luther King Day. This was my first time actively telling the kids about Martin Luther King, Jr. and this is one of the books that we used. I love the illustrations and I love the way that the author highlights some of Dr. King's BIG words, such as, "Everyone can be great" and "Love is the key to the problems of the world." Although I was very impressed with this book, I did skip over a few parts that I felt were more than my kids needed to know about right now. I didn't read the parts about how his house was bombed and people threatened to kill him. Nor did I read about him being assassinated. I simply said that he died. Overall, I really liked this book, especially the illustrations. I think we will be able to read it in full when my kids are a bit older.