Round 1: (2) I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. vs. (15) Dracula

Let's get serious (or seriously silly).


I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos
Available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle formats. (Amazon)

I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. is from the Ordinary People Change The World series, which is a great little collection of biographical books about influential historical figures. H. has several of these, but hasn't really gotten into too many of them since they have paper pages, which he has a little trouble navigating on his own yet. I read him this one for MLK Day, though, and it's become a favorite since then.

It touches on some historical anecdotes from MLK's childhood, and takes a lofty approach to segregation and the Civil Rights movement. Obviously, since it's aimed at kids (it's actually recommended for readers aged 5 to 8), it's not going to give a deep dive into the horrors of the Jim Crow era in America, and MLK's assassination is, of course, not discussed at all, but as an introduction to the concepts and to Martin Luther King as a leader, it works very well. It also provides a list of recommended further reading for when your child is ready to expand on the topic.

Dracula
by Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver
Available in board book and Kindle formats. (Amazon)

Dracula is another BabyLit book, this time focusing on counting 1 to 10. H. likes this one a lot, especially since it's got wolves he can howl at.

Look, it's really hard to make a counting book about Dracula sound impressive compared to a biographical story about Martin Luther King, ok?

Match-up Analysis

This should be an interesting match-up. I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. is one H. likes to look at a lot during the day. That said, it's fairly long, and baby attention spans being what they are, he never finishes it all in one go. As a result, I don't think we've ever read it to him for his bedtime story. Dracula comes up much more often, and H. knows it's got things he likes in it, and presumably knows that he won't have to sit and listen to me read for five minutes straight.

Prediction

Dracula with the upset.

Results

In typical Goth Baby fashion, H. picked Dracula.

Up Next

Dracula will fight the winner of First 100 Animals and fellow Goth Baby book Frankenstein on April 14th.