Children’s literature has a wealth of insightful, educational, and appealing books to help educate children about race and racial injustice in the United States. Including everything from picture books to novels, covering both historical and contemporary struggles, this list of children’s books can help parents better inform their children about the realities of race and racial injustice in the United States.
A Good Kind of Trouble
by Lisa Moore
Shayla doesn’t want any trouble. But when she wears an armband for Black Lives Matter to school, she finds herself in the middle of a student-wide conflict.
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Something Happened in Our Town
by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
A Black man has been shot by a white policeman, and two children — one Black, one white — are trying to understand.
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Ghost Boys
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
After being killed by a white police officer, Jerome becomes a ghost.
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Clean Getaway
by Nic Stone
Scoob’s spring break just got canceled, and now his grandma is hauling him off on a roadtrip across the United States.
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The Stars Beneath Our Feet
by David Barclay Moore
After his brother is killed in gang violence, Lolly is just trying to survive.
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor
Nine-year-old Cassie lives in the South during the Great Depression. Her tight-knit family tries to protect her from the racism of their community,
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This Book Is Anti-Racist
by Tiffany Jewell
Where does racism come from? What does it look like? And how can we step in when we see it?
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Woke
by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Olivia Gatwood
Throughout history, poets have been at the front of movements for social justice. Read More
Great Discussion Starters
Topics: Race, Diversity, Adoption, Acceptance
For Black Girls Like Me
by Mariama J. Lockington
Makeda is a Black girl adopted into a white family. Some days, she feels like a question mark.
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Can I Touch Your Hair?
by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
Irene and Charles have been assigned to work together on a fifth-grade poetry project, but they don’t know each other
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The Day You Begin
by Jacqueline Woodson
There are many ways kids can feel like outsiders — and it takes courage for them to start sharing their stories.
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What’s the Difference
by Doyin Richards
With bright pictures and engaging language, this book introduces children to diversity
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Ghost
by Jason Reynolds
When Ghost is chosen to join his elite middle school track team, it could mean a chance at the Junior Olympics.
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Topics: COVID-19, World Changes, Human Interaction, Depression, Anxiety
Good Morning Zoom
by Lindsay Rechler
Masked Ninja
by Mary Nhin
Why Did the Whole World Stop?
by Heather Black
A Kids Book About Depression
by Kileah McIlvain
Anxiety Relief for Teens
by Regine Galanti, PhD
Black History Related Books
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History
by Walter Dean Myers
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. Despite the odds, he fought for his education and eventually escaped enslavement.
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Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni
Sixty-five years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
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We March
by Shane W. Evans
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and the day he shared it with the world was a day of a remarkable protest.
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Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renée Watson
Even before she married Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz was an American civil rights icon. Read More
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
On February 1, 1960, four Black college students sat at a segregated lunch counter.
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March
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) lived his youth in rural Alabama, but his life changed forever when he met Martin Luther King Jr. Read More
Voice of Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Fannie Lou Hamer fought for equal voting rights, even in the face of prejudice and abuse.
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