This year we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 21st. In honor of the great statesman and hero, Kidsreads has rounded up some of the best books about Dr. King, as well as written up a short bio of him. Read on for all the info!

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was such a good student that he skipped the ninth and twelfth grades! Even more proof of Dr. King's smarts: he began studies at Atlanta's Morehouse College at the age of 15. After graduation from Morehouse, Dr. King entered Crozer Theological Seminary, a school for people who want to become Baptist ministers.

In 1953 Dr. King married Coretta Scott. They decided to start their family in Montgomery, Alabama. It is in this Southern city that Dr. King had one of his first public protests: rallying people to support a bus boycott. The boycott was due to the unfair practices of the bus company --- African-Americans had to ride in the back of the bus!

Dr. King was a champion of the civil rights movement. He led people in the struggle against racism, prejudice and segregation laws, trying to secure equal treatment and respect for all. He was arrested 30 times for his activities.

A huge number --- 250,000 --- of fellow activists and others turned out in the march on Washington, D.C. in 1963. It was at this rally that Dr. King presented his "I Have a Dream" speech, hypothesizing on an ideal world where skin color would make no difference in a person's life.

But for his good words and deeds, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate price. He was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1986, the third Monday in January was declared a national holiday.

Check out the books listed here to learn more about this American hero.

		MARTIN'S BIG WORDS: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport Jump at the Sun ISBN: 0786807148 Ages 4-8
		THE LIFE AND WORDS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. by Ira Peck Scholastic Paperbacks ISBN: 0590438271 Ages 8-12
		DEAR DR. KING: Letters from Today's Children to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edited by Jan Colbert and Ann McMillan Harms Jump at the Sun ISBN: 0786814624 Ages 8-12
		THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. by James Haskins Beech Tree Books ISBN: 0688116906 Ages 8-12
		THEY HAD A DREAM: The Civil Rights Struggle From Frederick Douglass to Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X by Jules Archer Puffin ISBN: 0140349545 Ages 8-12
		THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT by Conrad Stein Children's Press ISBN: 0516466712 Ages 8-12

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