Early Elementary

Coleman, Evelyn, illustrated by Tyrone Geter. White Socks Only, Albert Whitman & Co., 1996. A young girl misinterprets the meaning of a "whites only" sign.

Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges, Scholastic, 1995. Recounts the experiences of the first black child integrated into an all-white school.

Dupre, Rick. The Wishing Chair, Carolrhoda Books, 1993. Illustrated tale of a young boy whose grandmother sits in a special chair to tell him stories of the civil rights movement.

King, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott. I Have a Dream, Scholastic, 1997. Martin Luther King's speech illustrated by 15 Coretta Scott King award-winning artists.

Krull, Kathleen. Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, Harcourt, 2003. A vivid story of Chavez's 340-mile march to protest the working conditions of migrant farm workers in California.

Miller, William. The Bus Ride, Lee & Low Books, 1998. An account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Miller, William, illustrated by Gregory Christie. Richard Wright and the Library Card, Lee & Low Books, 1997. Fictional account of a young man who borrows a co-worker's library card to read books from the white library.

Parks, Rosa. I Am Rosa Parks, Dial Books, 1997. Autobiography.

Rappaport, Doreen. Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Hyperion Books for Children, 2001. A narrative that tells the story of the civil rights leader, using and expanding upon his words.

Ruffin, Frances E. Martin Luther King and the March on Washington, New York City: Grosset & Dunlap, 2001. Picture book about the March on Washington and the segregation and history that preceded that event.

Thomas, Joyce Carol. Linda Brown, You Are Not Alone: The Brown v. Board of Education Decision, Jump Sun, 2003. Collection of stories, essays and poems about the Supreme Court decision.

Wiles, Deborah. Freedom Summer, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1993. An account of the friendship of two boys—one white, the other black—during the summer after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Sources:
American Library Association; Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Site; California Department of Education Recommended Reading List; Cooperative Children's Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison; De Grummond's Children's Literature Collection: Civil Rights Movement Bibliography; The Horn Book Guide; PBS's History of Jim Crow Site: List of Fictional Books Relating to Jim Crow; Resource Center of the Americas; and Virginia Center for Children's Books: African American Civil Rights Movement