Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King

by Coretta Scott King, Ekua Holmes (illustrator)

Celebrate the life of the extraordinary civil and human rights activist Coretta Scott King with this picture book adaptation of her critically acclaimed adult memoir.

This is the autobiography of Coretta Scott King––wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.; founder of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (the King Center); architect of the MLK, Jr. legacy; and global leader in movements for civil and human rights as well as peace. Learn about how a girl born in the segregated deep south became a global leader at the forefront of the peace movement and an unforgettable champion of social change.

Resilience, bravery, and joy lie at the center of this timeless story about fighting for justice against all odds.

Genres: Biography, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Autobiography, Memoir, History

41 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2024

About the author

Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) was the wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. She gained an international reputation as an advocate of civil rights, nonviolence, international peace, full employment, and equal rights for women.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/coretta-...

Reviews

[Shelby (catching up on 2025 reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review

Coming January 2024

This was wonderful! I listened to it while putting my daughter to bed tonight (she's becoming quite the audiobook fan lately, and is often requesting audiobooks to lull her to sleep).

The physical book is 40 pages. The audiobook is 44mins at 1x speed.

This children's book was adapted from Coretta Scott King's adult memoir, and though it's much shorter, it gives a good overview, from Mrs. King's beginnings picking cotton for $2 week, her early experiences with racism and white supremacist violence, to meeting and eventually starting a family with Martin Luther King Jr..

There's mention of the boycotts, sit-ins, protests, and the March on Washington, as well as Mrs. King's role in the Civil Rights Movement, both as MLKs wife and biggest supporter, and then as an activist in her own right, picking up where her late husband left off.

We hear of the creation of the The King Center, a global human rights organization, expanding the message of non violence, as well as Mrs. King's role in ending the apartheid in South Africa.

Where the audiobook lacks the pictures of the physical book, it makes up for it with the sound effects! Seasoned narrator January Lavoy is wonderful as always! Her voice is soothing and easy on the ears, and she narrates this book just beautifully.

Toward the end, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the inclusion of an oral timeline - kind of a combination of the life of Mrs King, as well as key moments in civil rights movement.

I'm so glad I gave this one a listen. Though my daughter ended up falling asleep 😂 (it's late here, and has nothing to do with the book lol), I certainly enjoyed t. I'll have to play it again for her another time.

5 easy stars! Thanks Macmillan Audio for my gift ALC.

[Star Gater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners for accepting my request to audibly read Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

Narrator: January LaVoy

Stars: 4

I had to listen twice. Yes, it's true. I picked up a book on Mrs. King and spent the first listen wondering when I was going to learn about Dr. King. Yes, It's true, I did.

When Narrator LaVoy (one of my absolute favorites) said Jimmy Carter (Another that I love.) I clued in -- I had forgotten that Dr. King's wife was successful on her own. I had forgotten she was multifaceted. (I'm old enough to remember.)

The audiobook is short especially given all Mrs. King's accomplishments, family, and heartaches. Once my head was on straight and I stopped fan crushing on the narrator and President Carter, I summarized the book as categories and "needs annotations."

I highly recommend for all ages.

[Michelle Kenneth - PerfectionistWannabe.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely autobiography. Learned so much about Mrs. King.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC audiobook. This is a children’s book, a condensed autobiography of Coretta Scott King, MLK Jr.’s wife. I already knew all of these facts because of reading the latest MLK biography last year, but this was a refreshing review of just how determined and admirable Coretta was. She was the rock of MLK Jr. and was just as passionate about civil rights as he was. The amount of stress and racism she endured to support MLK’s political career is unthinkable. This would be an excellent book to share with children as they listen to and learn about such an important woman.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It hurts to give anything with Coretta Scott King's name a low rating. The main reason is the use of brackets. A child wouldn't care which words were her own. Many of the good reviews seem to be from the audiobook and my rating would have been much higher if I was listening to it being read. The illustrator needed the help of an author with more familiarity with children's literature.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to libro.fm for the free audiobook.

[Book Buying With Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art, just wished there was more Coretta as herself and not as Martin's wife.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more bookish opinions, visit my blog: Craft-Cycle

A powerful adaptation of King's memoir in a format suitable for young readers. I love to see so many more books focusing on the life and work of Coretta Scott King.

The book covers King's childhood, schooling, her marriage to Martin Luther King Jr., her family, and her lifelong activism. I especially loved that the ways she fought against racism and sexism throughout her life and her support of gay rights were included.

The book is quite text-heavy so works better for older children. Beautiful mixed-media artwork pairs well with the text. I especially loved the inclusion of photographs, related newspaper articles, and magazine covers within the artwork.

At the back are the six principles of nonviolence and a Civil Rights Timeline.

Beautiful, powerful, and informative. A wonderful way of sharing Coretta Scott King's story with a younger audience.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished listening to the autobiography of Coretta Scott King narrated by January Lavoie, who I want to say is my favorite narrator and always does such a phenomenal job. In the book about Mrs. King we learned about her birth in Alabama her hiring out to get money for her family when she was 10 eventually going to Antioch college and leaving there to go to the musical Conservatory to meeting Martin Luther King Jr. and much much more it covers the birth of her first baby Yolanda the bombing of their home while baby Yolanda slept all the way to the death of her husband and the brave widow carrying on his message. This is a great book and although it is brief and without much detail it is a great way for young kids to learn about Mrs. King or anyone else who likes getting cliff notes on a topic as a pose to a thick tome of someone’s life this is a great audiobook and one I totally enjoyed at the end they even tell you each big moment in her life the year it happened and date it’s just so good I thoroughly enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. I want to thank McMillan audio and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Leigh Collazo · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews at MrsReaderPants.

Ugh, once again I am the first negative review of a book that seems to only get 5* reviews. Here we go...

I read this because I think it could be a Caldecott or Coretta Scott King Award contender for 2025.

The illustrations are gorgeous--colorful and interesting with mixed media and real historical photos and magazine covers. Definitely a contender for an award for illustrations.

The text is also interesting. I love the personal stories coming straight from Ms. King.

Unfortunately, as a school librarian, I have lots of complaints about the text-heavy layout.

Here's why:

~The font is teeny-tiny. Not great for an elementary picture book.

~Some pages place this tiny black font against a medium blue or rich green background. Some of the backgrounds behind the font are colorful designs. This makes it very difficult to read the text.

~On some pages, the font runs right up to (or slightly on top of) the illustrations.

~Random brackets and parentheses in the text are distracting.

It seems to me like the illustrator brought her A-game. She did a bang-up job with gorgeous illustrations that are meaningful and interesting to look at. She deserves ALL the kudos for that.

But whoever was in charge of the text...this was just sloppy. It's like the person who put the text layout together has never read a picture book before.

Professional reviewers recommend this for Grades 2-5. On Amazon, the publisher recommends Ages 4-8 (that would be PreS-Grade 3). I could see it being maybe Grades 4+, but even I as an adult had trouble focusing on the text. The font and background color choices just make it too difficult to read.

Now imagine this is a library book. Library books get page crinkles with use. The shine of the pages and crinkles will make the text even more difficult to read over time. Hard pass for the library, unless you want to use it with the audiobook, which I hear is excellent.

Then we come to the random brackets and parentheses. The brackets are there because the text comes directly from Mrs. King's autobiography. But do readers in Grades 2-5 (or PreS-3, as the publisher recommends) care about that? Will they understand it without an adult explaining the use of brackets when quoting text?

Of course they won't. The brackets are so unnecessary--it's an elementary picture book, not an academic paper. Score another point for the audiobook, which won't have those pesky brackets.

It's just such a shame because the illustrations deserve so much better from the text. I gave this three stars, but every one of them is for the illustrator.

Bottom line, I do not recommend this book for libraries unless you get the audiobook with it. Or just choose one of the other excellent picture books about Ms. King instead.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

States how in her childhood there were no recreation facilities for Black children. She remembers asking her mother "Why do whites hate us so?" Her family home was burned to the ground when she was 15 by white racists. She had the "obeying" part removed from her marriage vows. Talks about the bombing of their house when Yolanda was a baby, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The toll of Martin's arrests. She mentions standing in for Martin as a speaker, giving concerts to raise money, and continuing as a spokeswoman for her own peace movement. Talks about taking over the movement when Martin was assassinated and saying that nothing would hurt Martin more than people reacting with violence. Tells of her work to ensure Martin's legacy and the formation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center. Mentions her appointment as a delegate to the UN by Jimmy Carter, standing for gay rights, her help ending apartheid. Tells of her determined lobbying to have Martin's birthday declared a national holiday. All of these were accomplished by a girl born in a small town, into a discriminated race, and a gender that was expected to keep quiet and is a testament to what can be accomplished by "love in action." Back matter includes the Six Principles of Nonviolence and a Civil Rights Timeline.

Love the history that shows the accomplished, strong women that were partners to historical men.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: I was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama, at a time and in a place where everything I would eventually become was impossible even to imagine.

Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction picture book for children [and older readers.] It is adapted from a memoir or autobiography written by Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

My thoughts: Without a doubt librarians and teachers will pick this one up and push it, push it, push it. Is that a bad thing? Probably not. Just honestly saying that this is probably more a book adults will encourage children to choose instead of being one of those books that children will choose to pick up and read on their own. No judgment intended.

As an adult, I appreciated it. I definitely found the illustrations to be wonderful. I liked the text as well.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I felt the artwork was stunning. I'm not sure it really enhanced the story itself, but I loved the colors and I felt it was lovely.

This book takes passages from Coretta Scott King's autobiography and puts them in the book. Honestly, I knew there was an award with her name and she was the wife of MLK jr, but I didn't know a whole lot about her.

She is really interesting even on her own. She went to college in a time it was difficult for people of color to go. She was very smart and well to do. I understand why MLK would marry her. After he died, she did so much too.

She was appointed to the UN and did a ton of work. I would like to read her full autobiography now. My interest in this person have been piqued.

A great book for kids. They are lucky to have this.

[Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book about the life of Coretta Scott King. The text is taken from C S King herself. There are places where brackets are used to show some slight editing for readability.

The first third is about her childhood and early young adulthood.
The second third is about her marriage to Dr. MLK, Jr.
The last third is about her work after her husband was martyred, including her work to establish the federal holiday, MLK Day.

Mrs. King is a smart, driven, focused, and compassionate person. I do concede that I liked the art a bit more than the text. There were long columns of text that were a bit too dense compared to the accessibility of the visuals. It's almost as though the visuals were for children 6 to 9 and the text was for children 9 to 13.

But I was glad to learn more about the life of an extraordinary woman.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mixed media illustrations in this book are beautiful. But I struggled with the text, not because of Mrs. King's story, but because it felt so clunky to read. Brackets are used heavily throughout the book, and I understand the purpose; I used many of those writing papers in college. But they felt so out of place in a children's picture book. A child does not know or care what [...] means, but it appears exactly this way in the book, in addition to indicating the adding/altering of text for clarity. All of those brackets in a picture book just read like incomplete editing. Shouldn't a note indicating this book was adapted from King's autobiography suffice? The recommended age audience (4-8) also seems a little young for this text-heavy picture book.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL!

While there wasn't much information that I didn't know, this book is a perfect introductory tool for younger readers who are interested in learning more about Coretta Scott King. It is pulled directly from her autobiography and adapted Dr. Barbara Reynolds for a younger audience. Honestly, the real star of the show was the artwork. Ekua Holmes brilliantly utilized mixed media to combine their drawings with clippings of newspaper text and images from the various events described within the text. It made diving into this book even more of an enjoyable read. Completely and utterly brilliant. I adored this one.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 Coretta Scott King illustrator on her book for the illustrations of Ekua Holmes

Julia Sooy adapted the text from Coretta: My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King with the Reverend Dr. Barbara Reynolds. This text adaptation for children is often awkward, stiff and stilted, preachy, with words are filled in. While the text does not flow well, the pages of artwork by Elua Holmes are rich, vibrant, lively multimedia illustrations. Bright warm colors, rich textures, juxtaposed, diverse, and multi layered images make this picture book autobiography, a lush and informative experience. Brava Ekua Holmes.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (I liked it)

Okay, let me start with - the illustrations are AMAZING. So beautiful and engaging.

I like that the text is King's (from her autobiography) however, it still reads as text written for an older audience. There are brackets that are just confusing in some places. As an adult, I understand why the brackets are there but I severely doubt a child reading this book would. It's also pretty text heavy (which is something I commonly see in picture book biographies but still doesn't make it appealing to the intended audience).

[Ccaywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in the first person, these excerpts create a life story on a level comprehensible by upper elementary age readers. The text is longer and more complex than typical of picture books but the colorful, full page illustrations reflect the text and amplify the emotions of the story. A telephone receiver dangles on the page where Coretta hears that her husband has been shot.
The illustrations blend painting and collage that integrate period images. The artistry of Ekua Holmes well deserves to be a 2025 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coretta Scott King's autobiography, has been adapted for a younger reader from her adult memoir.

I really loved King's voice; it reads like she's talking to the children. Most likely not intended for lower elementary based on the length of the text on the pages, but upper elementary and middle school readers will understand who she is, and the impact she has made. The collage illustrations incorporate magazine covers, photographs and newspapers, giving her life story added authenticity. Coretta Scott King is African American

[Ms. M Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a free Educator copy of the audiobook from LibroFM in exchange for an honest review.

Coretta tells the story of Coretta Scott King in her own words. I didn't know much about her early years before meeting MLK Jr., so I enjoyed learning about her childhood and college years. I listened to the audiobook, which had great narration, but because of that did not get to see the pictures included in the book. The end includes a timeline of the Civil Rights movement, which is a great reference.

Overall, this would be a good addition to an elementary classroom library.

[AL · Rating 5 out of 5]

I selected this audio book not knowing it would be quick but it was informative and great for younger ones. I only wish I could see the illustrations. If they’re anything like the cover, I’m sure they’re stunning. I was intrigued hearing Coretta’s perspective and hearing a bit about her upbringing. There was significant black history timelined in the end of the book, as well. Wonderful, educational resource for younger kids.

[Raynbow Corleone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I am not one for nonfiction so I started my year off with Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and I was not disappointed. This was adapted from her memoir. This was a quick listen to and I enjoyed focusing more on Mrs Coretta Scott King. “A dream is a work that is very much in progress. I am counting on the next generation.” Mrs. Coretta started off her life fighting for equal rights with nonviolence and then she met her future husband who was also about nonviolence.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The adaptation of Coretta Scott King's memoir for young people, this autobiography paints a picture of the 20th century from the perspective of one of its most important figures. Ekua Holmes' illustrations are exceptional as always, filled with cut paper collage that feel significant and intimate in measure. The book itself is a little wordy, but it reads well. This is a book that could work as a read aloud with older kids.

[LaQuisha Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six Principles of Nonviolence

ONE: Nonviolence Is a Way of Life for Courageous People.

TWO: Nonviolence Seeks to Win Friendship and Understanding.

THREE: Nonviolence Seeks to Defeat Injustice, or Evil, Not People.

FOUR: Nonviolence Holds that Unearned, Voluntary Suffering for a Just Cause Can Educate and Transform People and Societies.

FIVE: Nonviolence Chooses Love Instead of Hate.

SIX: Nonviolence Believes that the Universe Is on the Side of Justice.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent adaptation from Ms. Scott King's memoir. I truly felt as if I was given an insight into her by using her words. Mixed media illustrations were also a plus (my favorite spread being newspaper clippings from around the same time as segregation on public transportation was dubbed unconstitutional).

Oh how I wish we would remember her and Dr. King's words on social justice mixed with nonviolence. We have come so far....in the opposite direction.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3

2025 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor

Unfortunately, I think this would have been a stronger book (especially for the publisher-recommended age group of 4-8 year olds!) if it was not an adaptation of Coretta Scott King’s adult autobiography, and instead was a biography written for kids. The text was quite clunky at times and seemed to do a disservice to the illustrations.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book. Coretta Scott King's own words, taken from her 2017 memoir, paired with Ekua Holmes evocative illustrations, bring to life a truly remarkable leader in her own right. I haven't listened to the audio version, but I felt while reading it that I could hear Coretta speaking. Mixed media illustrations incorporate photos, acrylics, cut paper, and probably more. Inspiring and an invitation to learn more. Recommended for all ages.

2025 CSK Illustrator Honor

[Brent Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect book for kids to learn about one of our greatest civil rights and social justice leaders. Ms. Scott-King is a true example of what Christianity and Feminism should look like. She never lost her identity or self-respect, even when she was pushed to the background. Her accomplishments will not go unnoticed and still continue to grow even today. Her legacy of love is one we should all do our best to exemplify.