Child of the Civil Rights Movement

By Paula Young Shelton, Raul Colón (illustrator),

Book cover of Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Book description

In this Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history. Paula grew up in the deep south, in a world where whites had and blacks…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Child of the Civil Rights Movement as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I chose this picture book because it’s so well-written (including an unforgettable kid-friendly explanation of “Jim Crow”), because it’s a first-hand account by someone who took part in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery when she was only four years old, and because I liked the way the author showed the organizers as an “orchestra” composed of leaders such as Dorothy Cotton, Ralph Abernathy, and her own parents, Andrew and Jean Childs Young, rather than a solo act by Martin Luther King.

From Mara's list on civil rights heroes.

Want books like Child of the Civil Rights Movement?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Child of the Civil Rights Movement.

Browse books like Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Book cover of Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
Book cover of Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins
Book cover of Lizzie Demands a Seat! Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,546

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Alabama, civil rights, and childhood?

Alabama 68 books
Civil Rights 113 books
Childhood 200 books