Civil Rights for Kids
- a List of Good Books for Kids

Generic -- the 1960's

The books in this section were chosen to help children understand the Civil Rights Movement.


Riding To Washington
by Gwenyth Swain

GoodReads: 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings

Description: FICTION: Janie is not exactly sure why her daddy is riding a bus from Indianapolis to Washington, D.C. She knows why she has to go-to stay out of her mother’s way, especially with the twins now teething. But Daddy wants to hear a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak and, to keep out of trouble, Janie is sent along. Riding the bus with them is a mishmash of people, black and white, young and old. They seem very different from Janie.

As the bus travels across cities and farm fields to its historic destination, Janie sees firsthand the injustices that many others are made to endure. She begins to realize that she’s not so different from the other riders and that, as young as she is, her actions can affect change.

Reading Information:
Word Count: 1,483
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 3.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 120598

Lexile: AD650L
  • Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press (2007)
  • ISBN-10: 1585363243
  • amazon




Clara Barton
-- see our separate list

Ruby Bridges
-- see our separate list

Cesar Chavez
-- see our list of the 5 Easiest Books

Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- 6 Good Books for Kids About Martin Luther King Jr.
-- 4 Easiest Books about Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Jackie Robinson
-- see our separate list

Eleanor Roosevelt
-- see our separate list

Sojourner Truth
-- see our separate list

Coming...

Susan B. Anthony
Langston Hughes
Rosa Parks
Dave the Potter
Harriet Tubman