Let Freedom Sing by Vanessa Newton
Ages 4-8
Blue Apple Books (September 2, 2009)
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
I love this book! Taking the simple lyrics of ‘this little light of mine’ and juxtaposing it with the people that shaped the civil rights movement makes for an understandable, age-appropriate treatment of a very important time in U.S. history. Since the book is targeted for 4-8 year olds, the message is clear that each one of us can make a difference. Just look at Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama. Let your light shine. The illustrations show the joy of the music flowing through the book’s characters as the sing the song and change history.

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Testing The Ice - A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Ages 4-8
Scholastic Press (October 1, 2009)
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
I often cry when I read books but it is pretty rare when I get chills from the impact of a story. I still have chills as I write about Testing The Ice - A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson. Sharon is Jackie Robinson’s daughter and she weaves an amazing story about her father’s courage, from breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball to bravely testing the ice before his children and their friends played hockey on a frozen lake. For a man who couldn’t swim, testing the ice was a bold act of love. Kadir Nelson’s art should hang from gilded frames in the most impressive art museums, but, despite its elegance and depth, he keeps it accessible and true. This author/illustrator combination is a perfect match.

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A Thousand Never Evers A Novel by Shana Burg
Delacorte - 2008
Ages 9-12
Cautions: Violence

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Addie Ann Picket epitomizes the dilemma that all young people had during the Civil Rights Movement-kids were just getting their wings and their mother were trying to convince them to fly under the radar to be safe, leaders were trying to convince them to soar to overcome injustice and their own conscience was forcing them to fly even if they didn’t feel quite ready. It’s a well-written story, but difficult to digest when you think about how much injustice existed just a few short decades ago and the astonishing mettle of those who sacrificed so everyone could be equal.

Publisher’s Description:
In Kuckachoo, Mississippi, 1963, Addie Ann Pickett happily swings in the yard, jumps double dutch, and teaches her trusty cat, Flapjack, new tricks. She worships her brother Elias and is proud of following in his footsteps by attending the Negro junior high school. But when her own careless act leads to her brother’s disappearance, Addie Ann, Mama, and Uncle Bump are left to struggle on, not knowing if Elias is dead or alive.
Then a good deed meant to unite the citizens of Kuckachoo sets off a chain of explosive events. And although Addie Ann’s itching to reveal the whole truth, Mama’s rule is never tell white folks what they don’t want to hear. 
As the months pass, Addie Ann’s family is sorely tested. Like her brother, Addie Ann understands the danger of silence. Now Addie Ann must decide whether to be a bystander to events or someone prepared to take action, no matter what the consequence.

For educators:
http://www.shanaburg.com/educators.php

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As Good as Anybody by Richard Michelson
Knopf Books for Young Readers - 2008
Ages 4-8
Cautions: There are images of racists and violence, but tempered well for younger readers

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This book is the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel, who is a rabbi, walking together for civil rights in 1965. Their common goal of equality for all people joined them together and their own experiences with discrimination drove them to resolve to peacefully put forth their mission and not rest until it was achieved.

Publisher’s Desciption
MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel. Their names stand for the quest for justice and equality.

Martin grew up in a loving family in the American South, at a time when this country was plagued by racial discrimination. He aimed to put a stop to it. He became a minister like his daddy, and he preached and marched for his cause.

Abraham grew up in a loving family many years earlier, in a Europe that did not welcome Jews. He found a new home in America, where he became a respected rabbi like his father, carrying a message of peace and acceptance.

Here is the story of two icons for social justice, how they formed a remarkable friendship and turned their personal experiences of discrimination into a message of love and equality for all.

Teacher’s Guide http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375833359&view=tg

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A Tugging String: A Novel About Growing Up During the Civil Rights Era by David Greenberg
Dutton 2008
Ages 9 - 11 years
Cautions: Violence

Kiwi Magazine Review
Blending actual events, speeches, anecdotes and imagination, David Greenberg creates a story which takes place around the time of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March in 1960. This stirring novel captures the feelings of everyone from a white civil rights lawyer and his son to a black college student, all fighting for the freedoms they deserve.

Description from the Publisher:
Duvy Greenberg is an ordinary twelve-year-old trying to fit in. He knows that his father, Jack, is a civil rights lawyer, but Duvy lives worlds away from Dorothy Milton, a black woman struggling to become a registered voter in Selma, Alabama. When Dorothy reaches out to Martin Luther King Jr. for help, she sets in motion a series of events that-with Jack Greenberg’s help-will open Duvy’s eyes to the reality of racial inequality and forever change the course of history. Blending facts, speeches, memories, and conjecture, this novel portrays the emotions and events surrounding the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March.

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Fire From the Rock by Sharon Draper
Speak - 2007
Ages - 12 and up
Cautions - Conflict, violence

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Reading about history can seem one-dimensional; facts and dates abound, but the information is as dry as toast. Sharon Draper gives life and dimension to the story of the 9 students who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. We learn that Sylvia Patterson was given the choice to be one of the first black students at the school, but she struggled with that decision because she really just wanted to be a normal teen who went to football games and dances. She didn’t initially realize the magnitude of the events until her neighborhood becomes a scene of the struggle for equality. Sharon Draper is eloquent and spot-on with her facts, making this book interesting and educational.

Publisher’s Description
Sylvia Patterson is shocked and confused when she is asked to be one of the first black students to attend Central High School, which is scheduled to be integrated in September 1957, whether the citizens or governor of Arkansas like it or not. Before Sylvia makes her final decision, smoldering racial tension in the town ignites into flame. When the smoke clears, she sees clearly that nothing is going to stop the change from coming. It is up to her generation to make it happen, in as many different ways as there are colors in the world.

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Coretta Scott King First Lady of Civil Rights (Childhood of Famous Americans) By George E. Stanley
Aladdin - 2008
Ages 8-12 years
Cautions - Conflict

Kiwi Magazine Review:
We all know her name but I’ll wager most people don’t know much about Coretta Scott King’s biography. This book makes her life and spirit accessible to younger students because it simply written in the third person as a great story about a plucky youngster who grows up to be the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. I love books like this because they really shows kids that no matter how you begin your life, you can be whatever you want to be. Anything is possible.

Publisher’s Description
Coretta Scott King is well known for being the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and for her own civil rights and world peace activism. She also received many awards and honorary degrees. But before she did all of those impressive things, Coretta was a strong little girl who could outclimb anyone in her neighborhood, was very close to her dad, and had a beautiful singing voice! Read all about how Coretta Scott King learned that if you work hard enough, your dreams can come true.

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God’s Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Candlewick Press, 2008

Recommended readers:  ages 3-6

Cautions:  all clear

Kiwi Magazine Review

What does God dream about?  God dreams about people sharing, people caring and reaching out to hold one another’s hands.  This book isn’t specific to one holiday or one religion, but it would make a lovely gift to young and old to remind us all that everyone is equal, everyone is special and we should savor the time we spend with our brothers and sisters, discovering the similarities and enjoying the differences. LeUyen Pham’s childlike illustrations perfectly accompany the text.

Publisher’s Description:

With warmth and humor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu distills his philosophy of unity and forgiveness into a picture book for the very young.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has a vision of God’s dream, which he shares here with the youngest of listeners. It involves people who reach out and hold each other’s hands, but sometimes get angry and hurt each other — and say they’re sorry and forgive. It’s a wish that everyone will see they are brothers and sisters, no matter their way of speaking to God, no matter the size of their nose or the shade of their skin. Aided by vibrant artwork evoking such images as a rainbow and a sharing circle, Tutu offers the essence of his ubuntu philosophy, a wisdom so clear and crystalline that even the smallest child can understand.

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