Civil Rights Movement for Kids through Art and Books

Today, I wanted to look at the Civil Rights Movement told through art and children’s books. Both are powerful communication tools both to educate and as a means to connect emotionally with what happened.

Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter and Shane W. Evans

How many bubbles are in a bar of soap? Name all sixty-six judges in the state of Alabama.

These “tests” were forced on African Americans to prevent them from voting prior to the Voting Rights Act.

Lillian Allen inspired this picture book. In 2008, at age one hundred, she campaigned for Barack Obama and cast her vote for him as well. Her efforts to bring in voters for him in a hilly neighborhood also serve to portray the symbolic struggle for voting rights that African Americans had to overcome: slavery, poll tax, ridiculous and impossible trivia tests, angry mobs, KKK threats, and police violence. [advanced picture book, ages 5 and up]

This book is in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. In 2014, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1065, allowing states to create “voter ID laws” which require all citizens to present a state-issued ID when voting, even though this is a financial obstacle for the poor and elderly to obtain.

The right to vote still needs protection today!

For example, this powerful painting depicts the murders committed by KKK, still not labeled as a terrorist organization today!

National Gallery of Canada

Making Friends with Billy Wong by Augusta Scattergood

Augusta Scattergood tackles a little-known subject: Asian Americans were also subject to Jim Crow laws in the South. In this chapter book, she gently weaves together a story of Azalea, a rising fifth grader sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas whom she’s never met before. Grandma Clark is a woman with a towering presence; she encourages Azalea to make friends with Billy Wong who is also new to their small town. He’s living with his Great Uncle and Aunt so that he can attend a previously all-white school and works in their small grocery store. There’s also the bully, Willis, and Scattergood shows us that things are not black and white; behind his prejudice are family responsibilities heavy for a young boy to bear. Grandma Clark’s plan for a more tolerant community is simple; she utilizes Garden Helpers to help out while she’s recuperating, thus forcing everyone to work together. Azalea discovers that she’s more similar to her grandmother than she realized, and their relationship, like hers with Billy Wong, strengthens from the adversity of facing racism around them. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

Gordon Parks: An African American Photographer Who Used His Lens to Expose Racism

My favorite children’s book on a photographer who used his lens to capture the separation of races which makes a powerful statement is the little-known Gordon Parks.

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph

Weatherford is an outstanding voice in children’s literature and here she tells the story of Gordon Parks who overcame racism himself and used his self-taught photography skills to capture a segregated America. [picture book, ages 5 and up]

I have a post about Gordon Parks and here are some of the photographs that he took for a Life Magazine article that never ran.

Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Shadra Strickland

In lyrical, spare free verse, this chapter book tells the story of two teenagers who fell in love, got married, broke the law, and changed the law. Their landmark case made mixed-race marriage legal. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark case Loving vs. Virginia, which fought against discrimination, racism, and segregation and WON! [free verse chapter book, ages 14 and up]

Notable White Activists Who Are Little Known But Made a Big Impact

Next, let’s move to another photographer, Danny Lyon, who captures the Civil Rights Movement in progress. In this photo, a high school student, Taylor Washington, is arrested for protesting.

From Rhode Island School of Design Museum

There are no children’s books about Danny Lyon (yet). He was a photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was present at almost all of the major historical events during the Civil Rights Movement. Lyon was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, and is the son of Russian-Jewish mother Rebecca Henkin and German-Jewish father Dr. Ernst Fredrick Lyon.

Joan Tumpauer Mulholland is another white activist who fought for civil rights but is largely unknown. The blue book is a picture book of her life story; the ochre cover book is an advanced picture book that tells the same story.

She Stood for Freedom: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland by Loki Mulholland, artwork by Charlotta Janssen

African American Civil Rights Heroes: Women and Children

The fight for Civil Rights put women and children on the battlefield, as the right to a quality education was something that had to be fought for by African Americans. Women also played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement, and their story is now just being told.

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford and Ekua Holmes

This award-winning picture book brought Fannie Lou Hamer out of obscurity and gives recognition for the role she played as a significant voice of the Civil Rights Movement. [picture book, ages 9 and up]

Ruby Bridges and Picture Book As Fast as Words Could Fly

Meeting Ruby Bridges at our elementary school event was a thrill for me and my children and further reinforced how important it is for kids to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. Both Ruby Bridges and Mason Steele show how kids were on the battlefield themselves in a right for justice.

As Fast of Words Could Fly by Pamela M. Tuck, illustrated by Eric Velasquez

Civil Rights Movement Icons

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X are the icons of the Civil Rights Movement. I would add John Lewis too.

Some of my favorite books on these icons include:

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier

I’d use this book for MLK Jr. Day for preschool and kindergarten. [picture book, ages 2 and up]

March Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell

We, as readers, are so fortunate to have John Lewis himself telling his story of the Civil Rights Movement in a graphic novel format. [graphic novel trilogy, ages 9 and up]

Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins

You don’t have a nonviolent revolution. You don’t have a turn-the-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution.

Malcolm was the son of a preacher who urged black people to self-reliance through entrepreneurship and education. His mother taught him a love of learning. When Malcolm’s father died tragically young, he was sent to a foster home and eventually ended up in Boston. Turning away from his father’s values, Malcolm made mistakes and ended up in jail. It was here that he discovered the Nation of Islam, headed by Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm converted to Islam and took the name, Malcolm X. After serving his time, Malcolm spoke on behalf of the Nation of Islam. As a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm spoke passionately demanding equal rights for black Americans. His stance was more extreme than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because Malcolm rejected the idea of nonviolence and advocated for black people to live apart from white people, and it caused a rift with the Nation of Islam. He left and started his own organization. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm started a speech when he was shot and killed by three members of the Nation of Islam. He was 39-years-old.

Walter Dean Myers captures this complex man who surmounted a difficult childhood and turned his life around after incarceration to inspire generations about taking an active role in effecting change. Illustrator Leonard Jenkins conveys the strength of Malcolm X’s personality and the oppression that he faced as a black man. [picture book biography, ages 6 and up]

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

Malcolm X’s coming-of-age story is told by his daughter in this young adult book, with help from Kekla Magoon. He spent his formative years in Roxbury, outside of Boston, which is near me. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

From My High School 

This is a mural at my high school by Maria F. Romero-Creel, class of 2012, of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

From the Boston Museum of Fine Art

Civil Rights Movement Books for 4th Grade

Top 10: Best Children’s Books On Civil Rights Movement

This list covers picture books, chapter books, and young adults.

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr with Three Books 

If you just want a snapshot of the Civil Rights Movement for young children, try these three books: two picture books and a chapter book.

Slavery: The Backdrop to the Civil Rights Movement

I have a series of posts that cover other topics that relate to the Civil Rights Movement.

5th Grade Slavery Unit Books

Top 10: Best African-American Picture Books (ages 4-12)

If you read these picture books in order, it gives an overview of the African-American experience historically starting from slavery to the present day.

Young Booker T. Washington: Fifty Cents and a Dream.

An advanced picture book that paints a portrait of Booker T. Washington as a determined young boy.

2010 Africana Awards for Best Children’s Literature

5th Grade Social Studies And How to Make It Interesting

I have a section in this post about the Civil Rights Movement.

Black History Month Books for Kids and Teens

As we look to the future, Robert Pruitt’s artwork (from the Rhode Island School of Design Museum) suggests other possibilities:

How about you? What Civil Rights Movement art and children’s books have moved you? Thanks for sharing!

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My books:

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• Junior Library Guild Gold selection
• Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
• Starred review from School Library Journal
• Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
• Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me