MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. for First Grade Readers

Here are the easiest books about Martin Luther King, Jr.  and MLK Day that are currently available for 1st Graders.

**all ratings from GoodReads 

WE MARCH
by  Shane W. Evans

Kirkus Reviews' Best Children's Books of 2012
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

 3.86 avg rating — 233 ratings

On August 28, 1963, people gathered in our nation's capitol and Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "“I Have a Dream” speech.  This book presents a kid-friendly version of those events.

This is a fabulous book.  You can read my review and see other sample pages here.

Reading Information:
Word Count: 61
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 1.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 158349
Lexile: BR


LET'S GET READY FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
(Welcome Books: Celebrations)
by Lloyd G. Douglas

This simple book features children learning about Dr. King. The font is very large and here is the sample text from one page:

My name is Jake.
My class is getting ready
for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
This holiday is celebrated
on Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s birthday.

The TOC follows. I like to note that if you look at the sample text from this book and the following book by Pamela Walker that this one has more text per page and more complicated sentences.

Table of Contents
Getting Ready
Drawing Posters
Helping Others
New Words
To Find Out More
Index
About the Author

Reading Information:
Word Count: 142
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 1.7 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 68224
-- sample pages available


MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
(Real People)
by Pamela Walker

Below is some sample text from one page. It's interesting to note that though this book is supposedly at a more difficult level that the sentences are shorter.

This is Martin Luther King, Jr.
He helped many people.

Here is the TOC.

Table of Contents
Giving Speeches
Peace for All People
Leading a March
New Words
To Find Out More
Index
About the Author

Word Count: 128
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 1.9 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 83367
Lexile: 450L
-- sample pages available

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
(American Holidays)
by Connor Dayton

This is a new book, so perhaps that accounts for the lack of information and reviews that are available about it.  Published in 2012.

The GoodReads description says:  MLK Day is not meant to be a holiday off from school, work, or duties, it is meant to be a stirring call to actionto model our individual efforts after the holidays namesake, Martin Luther King Junior.

Word Count: 142
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 1.9 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 149579

compiled by Pam
updated January 2014

You might also be interested in:

•  Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Second Grade readers

• 6 Great Books About Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Civil Rights for Kids