Book Lists for Children
Parents and other caregivers are seeking resources to help them hold children through the current, terrible wave of racialized violence, which is exacerbated by the tensions and vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As scholars, writers, and parents who use books to connect with our children and spark conversations with them, we’ve developed this book list to help engage the broad range of emotions and needs of diverse children in our multiracial society.
SocialJusticeBooks.org is a project of Teaching for Change, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world. Teaching for Change developed SocialJusticeBooks.org in 2017 to identify and promote the best multicultural and social justice children’s books, as well as articles and books for educators. Learn more.
A curated list of teacher-facing materials and evaluation criteria to affirm and reflect students’ identities and to help facilitate important conversations about equity, racism, and belonging (created with support from Google For Education)
Welcome to Diverse Futures, a site dedicated to promoting science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, etc. Of course, my love of science fiction and fantasy is driving the creation of this site, but this site is different from other review sites in that it is a space for teachers, educators, researchers, etc. who want to use Black speculative fiction in the classroom or in research.
In this post, I’m sharing 15 books for children and teens that uplift the beauty and strength of Black children and communities, as well as those that exemplify the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement. All the books in this post are authored or co-authored by Black writers.
Some suggestions from Hannah
- A Kid’s Book About Racism by Jelani Memory
- Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
- Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, by Derrick Barnes Illustrated by Gordon C. James
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry Illustrated Vashti Harrison
- Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima
- I Will Love You by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
- It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers)
- Juneteenth for Maize by Floyd Cooper
- Life Doesn't Frighten Me poem by Maya Angelou paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina (Author), Angela Dominguez (Illustrator)
- Malala‘s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai illustrated by Kerascoet
- Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung
- My Hair Is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Please Don't Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller
- Preaching to the Chickens: The story of young John Lewis by Jabari Asim (author), E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
- So Much by Trish Cooke (author), Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator)
- The Day You Begin, by Jacqueline Wood Illustrated by Rafael Lopez
- The Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña (Author), Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
- The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
- Welcome to the Party by Gabrielle Union
- Where Are You From by Yamile Saied Méndez
- Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
The list below was curated by King Street Center’s Education Director, Deena Murphy, and Early Education Director, Stacy Weinberger.
Picture books
- Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
- Allie’s Basketball Dream by Barbara Barber
- Ayobami and the Names of the Animals by Pilar López Ávila
- Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid by Victoria Tentler-Krylov Marie (Illustrator)
- Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle
- Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen
- I Am Brown by Ashok Banker and Sandhya Prabhat
- Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
- Lailah’s Lunchbox by Reem Faruqi (Author), Lea Lyon (Illustrator)
- Lift by Minh Lê
- Lola and the Library by Anna McQuinn
- MARVEL’s Black Panther: On the Prowl! (Marvel Black Panther) by R. R. Busse
- My Hands Sing The Blues: Romare Bearden’s…by Jeanne Walker Harvey
- Princess Hair by Sharee Jackson
- Seeing into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright by Nina Crews and Richard Wright
- Simone Visits the Museum by Dr. Kelsi Bracmort
- Spirit of the Cheetah: A Somali Tale by Karen Lynn Williams
- Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
- The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler
- The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson and Vanessa Brantley-Newton
- Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell and James E. Ransome
- You Matter by Christian Robinson
Young Adult
- A Black Woman Did That (1) by Malaika Adero and Chanté Timothy
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
- All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney
- As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
- Baby Girl by Lenora Adams
- Bang! by Sharon G. Flake
- Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson , Kwame Alexander
- Becoming Richard Pryor by Scott Saul
- Bedtime Inspirational Stories: 50 Amazing Black People Who Changed the World (Volume 1) by L. A. Amber
- Behind You by Jacqueline Woodson
- Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Chains (Seeds of America #1) by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
- Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
- Home of the Brave: An American History Book for Kids: 15 Immigrants Who Shaped U.S. History by Brooke Khan
- Rebound by Kwame Alexander
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning – Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- Swing (Blink) by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
- The Crossover (Graphic Novel) by Kwame Alexander and Dawud Anyabwile
- The Mistreatment of Zora Langston by Lisa W. Tetting
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne
- Zion Williamson: The Inspirational Story of How Zion Williamson Became the NBA’s First Draft Pick by Jackson Carter