January 20, 2025 marks the 30th Anniversary of the National Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Americans first celebrated this federal holiday in 1986, and Congress designated it as a national day of service in 1994 to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.
Laurie Edwards wrote a great post in January 2016 highlighting books written by King’s niece, Angela Farris Watkins, along with other middle grade biographies and books detailing MLK Jr.’s life and legacy. As you celebrate the holiday today, here are some books written since 2016 honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
From School Library Journal: A powerful celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., set against the last few months of his life and written in verse. Divided into three sections, (“Daylight,” “Darkness,” and “Dawn”), Andrea Davis Pinkney’s poems focus on the winter and spring of 1968, from King’s birthday on January 15 through the horror of his assassination on April 4 and end with a tribute to his legacy of hope on Easter Sunday, April 14. Grades 4-Up
Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior by Ed Clayton, illustrated by Donald Bermudez
From School Library Journal: This biography of Martin Luther King Jr. was originally published in 1964, and has undergone a textual update fitting for the events that transpired in the years after its initial publication. The life of Dr. King is told through simple, easy-to-read text and full-color illustrations of pivotal moments in his life. The biography spends a good amount of time on King’s early years, with the latter half of the book focusing on key moments of the civil rights movement, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington. Grades 4-7.
Threads of Peace: How Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Changed the World by Uma Krishnaswami
From Kirkus Reviews: The threads of the lives of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are intricately woven together and continue to hold relevance today; even though they never met, Gandhi was well aware of racial inequality in the U.S., and King was deeply influenced by Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. The book begins with Gandhi’s life, followed by King’s, tracing each man’s story from birth to assassination. Details about their early years and very human struggles round out the portraits of their lives. Grades 4-up.
Share in the comments below what you will be reading on the 30th anniversary of the day of service honoring MLK Jr.!
Ben Boche has tried to get himself locked in a museum overnight several times but keeps getting caught. Therefore he has to spend his time doing other things, primarily teaching children's literature at the university-level and writing middle grade adventures. He's at his happiest when reading, so please be quiet and leave him alone. :-)
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From the Mixed-Up Files is the group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers. For anyone with a passion for children’s literature—teachers, librarians, parents, kids, writers, industry professionals— we offer regularly updated book lists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a children's book from writing to publishing to promoting.
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