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Black History Month: Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". (from Wikipedia)

Books in our SORA Collection

The NY Reads Collection offers simultaneous use of these two books about Rosa Parks:

  • Rosa Parks by Kristen Susienka
    Interest level K-3
    Rosa Parks is best known as the woman who helped start the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956. However, her life story extends far beyond her defiance on that Alabama bus in 1955. Parks was an activist for change and a supporter of equal rights. This book tells her story, both before and after her actions on the bus, and stresses her importance in American history to this day. Using manageable language and vivid photographs, this beginner biography introduces young readers to a notable and important human being.
  • Rosa Parks by Emma E. Haldy
    Interest level K-3
    The My Itty-Bitty Bio series are biographies for the earliest readers. This book examines the life of Rosa Parks in a simple, age-appropriate way that will help children develop word recognition and reading skills. Includes a timeline and other informative backmatter.

Below are the books in our Monroe One SORA account:

  • Rosa Parks by Kristen Susienka (ALWAYS AVAILABLE)
    Interest level K-3
    Rosa Parks is best known as the woman who helped start the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956. However, her life story extends far beyond her defiance on that Alabama bus in 1955. Parks was an activist for change and a supporter of equal rights. This book tells her story, both before and after her actions on the bus, and stresses her importance in American history to this day. Using manageable language and vivid photographs, this beginner biography introduces young readers to a notable and important human being.
  • Rosa Parks by Joyce A. Hanson (One copy)
    Audience General Adult
    Rosa Parks: A Biography captures the story of this remarkable woman like no other biography of her before it. It examines the entire scope of Rosa Parks's life, from her birth in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama to her 1943 enrollment in the Montgomery NAACP to the dramatic events of the 1960's, and her continuing work up to her death in 2005. 
  • The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (One Copy)
    Audience: General Adult
    Presenting a corrective to the popular notion of Rosa Parks as the quiet seamstress who, with a single act, birthed the modern civil rights movement, Theoharis provides a revealing window into Parks's politics and years of activism. She shows readers how this civil rights movement radical sought--for more than half a century--to expose and eradicate the American racial-caste system in jobs, schools, public services, and criminal justice.
  • Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds (One copy)
    Interest level: K-3
    It seems like any other winter day in Montgomery, Alabama. Mama and child are riding where they're supposed to--way in the back of the bus. The boy passes the time by watching his marble roll up and down the aisle with the motion of the bus, until from way up front a big commotion breaks out. He can't see what's going on, but he can see the policeman arrive outside and he can see Mama's chin grow strong. "There you go, Rosa Parks," she says, "stirrin' up a nest of hornets. Tomorrow all this'll be forgot." But they both know differently. With childlike words and powerful illustrations, Aaron Reynolds and Coretta Scott King medalist Floyd Cooper recount Rosa Parks' act of defiance through the eyes of a child--who will never forget.
  • Young, Gifted and Black by Jamia Wilson (One copy)
    Interest level: Middle grades 4-8
    Meet 52 icons of color from the past and present in this celebration of inspirational achievement - a collection of changemakers to encourage, inspire and empower the next generation of changemakers. Jamia Wilson has carefully curated this range of black icons and the book is stylishly brought together by Andrea Pippins' colorful and celebratory illustrations.

Multimedia Resources

Video: Is the Rosa Parks Story True?

You can find the above video in our Learn360 catalog using this link: https://media.monroe.edu/?g=aab64f2b-6701-11eb-8a6d-ac1f6b7f2b08

After watching this video, ask the question, "How is historical accuracy important in shaping our future?"