Black Lives Matter and our kids’ bookshelves should reflect that. Here are 33 excellent books to add to your home library that highlight race and black history.
As parents, it is our job to teach our kids how to combat the US cycle of slavery, racism, and white privilege with the young minds we are forming at home. We can change the world and our hearts by starting within the walls of our home. We must take action instead of letting our or our children’s minds fall into the system that is broken and allows for white privilege to manifest. When we educate ourselves on black history and race, we are actively combatting racism. It is not something accidental or something we stumble upon— but actively pursue.
Reading about race with our children is one way to intentionally and purposefully take steps to shift perspective and build awareness and understanding.
This list is compiled by our contributors and friends. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a wonderful start!
- Little Leaders, Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
- I am Enough by Grace Byers
- We’re Different, We’re the Same by Sesame Street
- A Kids Book About Racism by Jenali Memory
- Parker Looks Up by Parker and Jessica Curry (DC mom and child)
- One Love by Cedelia Marley
- A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
- Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
- Through my Eyes by Ruby Bridges
- One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
- Simone Visits the Museum by Dr. Kelsi Bracmort
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kelly (teen and young adult book)
- The Night is Yours by Abdul-Razak Zachariah
- An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glennette Tilley Turner
- My Daddy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Martin Luther King, III
- The Skin I’m In by Pat Thomas
- M Is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose
- Not my idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred D Taylor
- So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary Schmidt
- Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patrick McKissack and Jerry Pinkney
- Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough
- The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes
- One-Hundred-and-One African American Read Aloud Stories by Susan Kantor
- Little People Big Dreams: Maya Angelou by Lisbeth Kaiser
- I am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde
- Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams- Garcia
- Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up To Become Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz
- The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael Lopez
- Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
What books are you reading with your children about race and black history? Please share additional titles readers should check out in the comments.
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Featured image from @maggiemizelle.
