If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King

by Ellen Levine, Beth Peck

If you lived at the time of Martin Luther King--When did the civil rights movement begin?--Were children involved in civil rights protests?--What was the March on Washington?This book tells you what it was like during the exciting era when Martin Luther King led the fight against segregation.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, African American, Childrens, School, Middle Grade

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ellen Levine's books have won many awards and honors, including the Jane Addams Peace Award. Although she enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction, most of Ellen's books for young readers have been nonfiction. "Writing nonfiction lets me in behind the scenes of the story. I enjoy learning new things and meeting new people, even if they lived 200 years ago."

Ellen Levine was born in New York City. She received her B.A. degree in Politics from Brandeis University, graduating Magna cum laude. She has a Master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She has worked in film and television, taught adults and immigrant teenagers in special education and ESL programs, and served a law clerkship with Chief Judge Joseph Lord, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A former staff attorney with a public interest law group, Levine now devotes her time to writing, lecturing, and teaching. She is on the faculty of Vermont College's MFA program in writing for Children and Young Adults.

Ellen Levine divides her time between New York City and Salem, New York.

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Read aloud to ds as part of our history curriculum.

As with all "If You..." books, the book is presented in a series of questions and answers which progress naturally from a beginning point to an ending. After the brief introduction which leads us up to the plight of the black people in the US in the fifties and sixties the book starts with the question "What was segregation?" This is a very thorough book which looks at the Civil Rights Movement from the earliest rumblings of the brave lone men and woman who took a stand by sitting on a bus in the white section or sitting in diners for white people all the way through to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and modern day prejudice. Though the book's title refers to MLK, this is not a biography of him and he is not mentioned until well into the book. Of course once he is mentioned then he and the movement become inseparable, but the book is about the times first.

My son was very interested in this book, and with us being Canadians this was the first time he had heard about this topic in such depth. Of course, we have come across the subject in our readings to date and I've discussed it with him but this book really brought the reality of the situation, mostly in the Southern US, to life for him. He was plain outright flabbergasted at the "whites only" and "no coloreds" signs that were posted everywhere and everything that was actually involved with segregation. It was a real eye opener for him that a world like this once existed and we tried to imagine what it would be like for us today if we were out in the world with so many rules against what we were allowed to do and where we could go and he found it near impossible. He is glad that Canada is a free country and that we were a welcome destination for the slaves back in those days. (from previous studies) This book definitely made an impact on him and I personally was well pleased with it, also.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though If You Lived At the Time of Martin Luther King is a picture book, it doesn't pull any punches. It discusses lynching and what it is, the KKK, and the multiple killings, bombings, and other violence related to the civil rights movement. It doesn't go into graphic detail but it still may be too much if you have a sensitive child. It's too much for my seven and nine year old boys at this point, but I'm hoping I can read it with them in the next couple of years. This book is 79 pages long so if you read it with your child, I would plan on it taking two or three sessions to get through.Fortunately it's divided into sections so there are pre-made stopping points.

I loved that this book didn't sugar coat the fact that even though the civil rights movements is over there is still more work to be done and inequality still exists in America. This book was published in 1994 so there is no mention of Clinton or Obama. It would wonderful if an updated version was released.

I think this book is appropriate up through middle school. Even though it's a picture book, it's not babyish in any way. I highly recommend this book if you are wanting your children to have a good overview of the history of black people and civil rights in this country from the end of slavery up until current day.

[Catherine Sotir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informational and kept my attention. It is astonishing to read about awful things were for African American and what they endured to gain their freedom and to be seen as equal. It is awful that this sometimes still occurs today.

There were two quotes in this book that stood out to me...
"My frets are tired, but my soul is rested." and "We are as good as everyone else"

I purchased this book so my own boys could learn about their history and what there relatives have gone through to get the freedoms they have today. It amazes me how much information is in the 80 pages including the Freedom Song, "We Shall Overcome".

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Luther king lived in the south. He grew up in the city of Atlanta, Georgia But it didn't matter whether you lived in the city or country,or how much money you family had. Southern laws said that blacks were to be segregated from whites. They often treated blacks in a ride way. But one day Martin decided to get equal rights for everyone! History really taught us a lot!!

[Tamika McIntosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very information. I like that it had really good questions that most people would ask about regarding the civil rights movement and gave very good responses. The information in this book is great. Unfortunately, this book is too long to read to young children and keep them interested the entire time. It is a book you would have to discuss a little bit at a time.

[Benedict Randhawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Luther lived in the south. He grew up in the city of Atlanta,Georgia. There were segregation laws customs that kept the races apart. Segregation laws were meant to make black people feel inferior to ,or not as good as ,white. But one day Martin decided to get equal rights for every one.

[Jeimy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for children to understand what life was like in the South during Jim Crow and the important people and events in the Civil Rights Movement.

[Lucy Magat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really helped me in my project in women's history month since there's a part in here that tells about Rosa Parks and what she'd done for abolishing of segregation I really like it! :D

[Lindsey Duncan]

This books tells what society at the time of Martin Luther King. This book would be a great tie in for Social Studies. I think this also could be great for MLK Day.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book discussing the basics of MLK Jr and some events in his life and some beliefs.

[Dawn Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about life during the era of Martin Luther King and what it was like.

I rate this book 5/5 because it is based on factual events in history that are important for all to know.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for a book to give our kids 7-11y some context for current events and the recent Black Lives Matters Protests. This book did an excellent job breaking down the Civil Rights Movement in to kid friendly terms and providing background information to the events. It helped guide family discussions as we talked about what did change and what changes can still be made in current race relations.

[Azn_seddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this with my niece cuz she checked it out from her school library. It did a great job at covering as much of the Civil Rights Movement as possible for a nonfic book from the '90s. I especially appreciate the mention of how morally gray the North was at the time and how racism still exists.

[Suanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I landed some new things. It’s definitely apparent that it was written before President Obama was elected to the senate or the White House. I’m surprised the author missed some of my favorite quotes, particular from Fannie Lou Hamer, whom the book was dedicated to.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this nonfiction children's book notably informative and interesting, offering such observations as follow: before the Civil Rigths Movement in America, cotton mill workers in South Carolina had segregated windows from which they could look out of during the workday. Moreover, Birmingham Public Library banned a book that showed black and white rabbits playing together.

The text is fairly easy to read but more appropriate for older elementary and middle school students versus early elementary.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great civil rights book!