March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World

Those unfamiliar with Scholastic's Storybook Treasures series should be aware that these are animated adaptations of books; they're old-school narrations (often by the authors themselves or celebrities, in this case Lynn Whitfield, Michael Clarke Duncan, and writer Nikki Giovanni) accompanied by the books' illustrations and some historical photographs. That said, the March On! collection is a perfect introduction to the civil rights movement and black history for young kids. The four easy-to-follow stories all depict a time in American history when African Americas were treated either as chattel or second-class citizens -- not exactly simple concepts for children to grasp, and yet the collection manages to explain how black people were treated unequally in a way even preschoolers should understand on a basic level.

Hearing about the pivotal "I Have a Dream" speech from the perspective of King's sister, or about Rosa Parks' day before she fatefully sat on that Montgomery bus, or how a slave, despondent over the loss of his sold wife and children, overcame his grief to mail himself to freedom, is important for kids and their parents. Entertaining and educational, this DVD will teach children and remind adults of the sacrifices so many individuals have made for the cause of freedom -- from slavery and inequality.