February 4, 2021 | melissa c
The following picture books affirm Black lives, bodies, experiences, and culture, and offer opportunities for discussion about racial injustice among parents and children of all races.
Picture Books
A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. The alliteration, rhyming, and vibrant illustrations make the book exciting for children, while the issues it brings up resonate with their parents' values of community, equality, and justice.
A lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and Brown children everywhere reminds them how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always will.
With bold art and thoughtful yet playful text, Antiracist Baby introduces the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism. Providing the language necessary to begin critical conversations at the earliest age, Antiracist Baby is the perfect gift for readers of all ages dedicated to forming a just society.
A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on.
In the 1930s, Lewis's dad, Lewis Michaux Sr. started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore. People from all over came to visit the store, even famous people--Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes, to name a few. In his father's bookstore people bought and read books, and they also learned from each other. People swapped and traded ideas and talked about how things could change.
Chronicling the nighttime routine of a family, Brown has penned a bedtime story that is immediately warm and relatable for families with young children. We follow an Afro-Latinx couple as they finish their day with their little one.
Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair.
Aria loves her soft and bouncy hair, but must go to extremes to avoid people who touch it without permission until, finally, she speaks up.
Growing up, Jeremiah is puzzled by racially-motivated gun violence in and beyond his community but when he is ready to talk about it, he learns hopeful forms of activism and advocacy.
Empower young readers to embrace their individuality, reject societal limitations, and follow their dreams. This inspiring picture book brings together a poem by acclaimed author Angela Johnson and Nina Crews's distinctive photocollage illustrations to celebrate girls of color.
A little girl's daddy steps in to help her arrange her curly, coiling, wild hair into styles that allow her to be her natural, beautiful self.
A young girl lifts her hands up in a series of everyday moments before finally raising her hands in resistance at a protest march.
This lyrical, empowering poem celebrates black children and seeks to inspire all young people to dream big and achieve their goals.
The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and no doubt he'll see them through--as he's creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up.
Presents the poem of Langston Hughes in which highlights the courage and dignity of the African American Pullman porters in the early twentieth century.
Presents a collection of poems about loving oneself the way one is, friendship, family life, exploring things, wearing a dress on a windy day, living in the city or the country, music, and other aspects of an African American girl's life.
The author introduces the concept of race as only one component in an individual's or nation's "story."
A biography of African American musician Melba Doretta Liston, a virtuoso musician who played the trombone and composed and arranged music for many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century.
Features female figures of black history, including abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash.
Recounts the 1968 sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his final speech to strikers the night before his assassination, and details the perseverance of strikers before and after his death.
Zura is worried about how her classmates will react to her Ghanaian Nana's tattoos on Grandparents Day, but Nana finds a way to show how special and meaningful they are.
An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice.
There is a place inside of mea space deep down inside of me where all my feelings hide. In this powerful, affirming poem by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, a Black child explores his shifting emotions throughout the year.
A toddler's antics keep his mother busy as she tries to feed him, watch him on the playground, give him a bath, and put him to bed.
Presents the history of hip-hop including, how it evolved from folktales, spirituals, and poetry, to the showmanship of James Brown, to the culture of graffiti art and breakdancing that formed around the art form.
A picture book biography celebrating the life and contributions of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, who sought the Democratic nomination to be the president of the United States.
This is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement.
When five-year-old Sulwe's classmates make fun of her dark skin, she tries lightening herself to no avail, but her encounter with a shooting star helps her understand there is beauty in every shade.
As a teacher and principal, Reverend F.D. Reese recognized that his colleagues were viewed with great respect in the city of Selma, Alabama. Could he convince them to risk their jobs--and perhaps their lives--by organizing a teachers-only march to the county courthouse to demand their right to vote? On January 22, 1965, the Black teachers left their classrooms and did just that, with Reverend Reese leading the way.
Tells the true story of Jackie Robinson's battle against prejudice while serving in the military during World War II, covering his court-martial for refusing to move to the back of an integrated bus.
On August 28, 1963, a remarkable event took place--more than 250,000 people gathered in our nation's capital to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march began at the Washington Monument and ended with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech, advocating racial harmony.
On a hot day at the end of summer in 1973 Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party at a park in the South Bronx. Her brother, Clive Campbell, spun the records. He had a new way of playing the music to make the breaks--the musical interludes between verses--longer for dancing. He called himself DJ Kool Herc and this is When the Beat Was Born.
Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to to back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American,Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. Empowered by this newfound understanding, the young girl is ready to return the next day to share her knowledge with her class.