20 Books on Race and Diversity for Children
/The images children see and the words they hear during childhood can have a lifelong effect on their worldview and their own sense of self. Books are windows into the world, which is why it is essential that children are surrounded by high quality books with diverse representation of people, events, and perspectives.
With the help of our incredible local bookstore, Prairie Lights, we have compiled these lists of books to help diversify your home bookshelves, open up conversations about race and racism within your family, and centralize the experiences and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
If you choose to order any of these books, we encourage you to support your local bookstore, or order from a black-owned bookstore online.
These book suggestions are grouped into the following categories:
Books about Race & Racism (Ages 8 and under)
Books about Diversity (Ages 8 and under)
Diverse Books about God & the Church (Ages 8 and under)
Books about Race & Racism (Ages 8-12)
Books about Diversity (Ages 8-12)
As a bonus, because we all need good books in our home libraries, we are also sharing one book for young adults and one book for adults.
1. Books about race and racism for young children (Age 8 and younger)
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice
By Marianne Celano
“Something Happened in Our Town follows two families–one White, one Black–as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives. Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues.”
Let the Children March
By Monica Clark-Robinson
“In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hate, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world.”
Black is a Rainbow Color
By Angela Joy
“A beautifully told and illustrated celebration of African American people and ethnology, Black Is a Rainbow Color thoughtfully explores what the Black experience means to a child. Starting with the young narrator's personal experience with the color black, then moving toward historical and cultural events, each line emphasizes the positive connotations of the word. Accentuating these efforts are Holmes' gorgeous illustrations, which are reminiscent of stained-glass church windows and manifest the many ways people of African descent can be beautiful.
(Booklist review)
We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands
By Rafael Lopez
“A multicultural celebration! Award winning illustrator Rafael Lopez brings new life with his adaptation of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, saluting the lives of all young people and encouraging inclusive communities and the celebration of unity. Sheet music is included in the back of the books for piano, guitar and recorder for classroom, library and home sing-a-longs.”
2. Books about diversity for young children (Age 8 and younger)
Why Am I Me?
By Paige Britt
“Imagining what it's like to be someone else can bring understanding, empathy, and an appreciation of our differences and similarities. Two children, an African American boy and a light-skinned, red-haired girl, are each accompanied to the elevated commuter train by a parent. As they ride, they consider each other's lives and those of the many diverse individuals both inside the train and outside the windows, wondering why they are themselves and not someone else.”
(Owen, Maryann Copyright 2017 Booklist)
All Are Welcome
By Alexandra Penfold
“Readers follow school kids from a rich diversity of backgrounds in this exuberant and inclusive work. Children wear yarmulkes, dress in hijabs, and some use wheelchairs to get around. They play together, learn together, and share their different cultural traditions. The book also depicts a wide variety of family types; there are children with a single parent, those with two moms or two dads, or kids who have parents from different racial backgrounds."
(Barbara Spiri, Southborough Library, MA © Copyright 2018.)
The Day You Begin
By Jacqueline Woodson
“A beautiful and inclusive story that encourages children to find the beauty in their own lives and share it with the world. A young girl with brown skin and curly black hair stays home through the summer to watch over her younger sister while her classmates travel to distant lands. A young boy from Venezuela arrives in his new school and finds the children in his class do not speak his language. Another child brings a lunch that her classmates find too strange while another isn't physically able to keep up with the play of other children. Each child feels very alone until they begin to share their stories and discover that it is nearly always possible to find someone a little like you.”
(Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library © Copyright 2018.)
Islandborn
By Junot Diaz
“Lola can't remember The Island–she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories–joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening–Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you."
3. Diverse picture books about God and the church (Ages 8 and younger)
God's Paintbrush
By Sandy Sasso
“Through fantasy, involvement and imagination, Sandy Sasso and Annette Compton invite children of all faiths and backgrounds to encounter God openly through moments in their own lives―and help the adults who love them to be a part of that encounter. This book provides a gift of images that nurtures and encourages children in making meaning of their world.”
When God Made You
By Matthew Paul Turner
“From early on, children are looking to discover their place in the world and longing to understand how their personalities, traits, and talents fit in. The assurance that they are deeply loved and a unique creation in our big universe is certain to help them spread their wings and fly. Through playful, charming rhyme and vivid, fantastical illustrations, When God Made You inspires young readers to learn about their own special gifts and how they fit into God’s divine plan as they grow, explore, and begin to create for themselves.”
God's Dream
By Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Tutu teaches a message of peace and hope in this gentle picture book. While children may dream about ‘flying high’ or ‘being treated like a full person,’ God dreams about a world in which all of his children join hands in peace, reconciliation and unity. In simple, eloquent language, Tutu conveys the message that although we come from different lands, have different eyes and skin, and talk to God in different ways, we are still brothers and sisters.”
Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible
By Elizabeth Caldwell
“Help nurture the faith of the children in your life with Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible. This engaging resource features 150 popular Bible stories that are organized by 13 themes, including Strong Women and Men; Listening for God; Parables; Healings and Miracles; and more. Each story is built on the latest in biblical scholarship and learning theory and helps children begin to understand the Bible and apply its teachings to the world around them. Growing in God’s Love features diverse artwork from more than twenty artists to appeal to a variety of ages and learning styles.”
4. Books about race and racism for older children (Ages 8-12)
Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice
By Mahogany Browne
“Historically poets have been on the forefront of social movements. Woke is a collection of poems by women of color that reflects the joy and passion in the fight for social justice, tackling topics from discrimination to empathy, and acceptance to speaking out. With Theodore Taylor's bright, emotional art and writing from Mahogany Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood, kids will be inspired to create their own art and poems to express how they see justice and injustice.”
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness
By Anastasia Higginbotham
“In this call to action, a young white child catches news fragments of a police officer shooting an unarmed black man. They witness their family members' discomfort, avoidance, and eventual dismissal of the shooting (and the resulting protests) while claiming, "We don't see color." Told in second person to an assumed white audience, the text intersperses firm declarations that the structure of whiteness oppresses people of color with gentle reassurances that growth and change are possible.”
(Ashleigh Williams, School Library Journal © Copyright 2018.)
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise our Voices
By Wade Hudson
“Wade and Cheryl Willis Hudson offer this empowering anthology to counter today's often-unsettling political climate for children of varying ethnicities, faiths, identities, and abilities. The husband-and-wife team present 30 illustrated essays, poems, stories, and letters from more than 50 diverse children's book creators. Contributions aim to calm, sustain, and inspire children.”
(© Copyright PWxyz, LLC.)
A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation
By Barry Wittenstein
“Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech has been etched into the public consciousness. Yet King's actual speech was an in-the-moment response to the audience climate during the March on Washington. A bolt of encouragement from gospel singer Mahalia Jackson prompts King to "Tell them about the dream," igniting the raw passion that his pre-rehearsed words had been missing. Wittenstein's straightforward, informative text conveys both the urgency of King's words and the weight of his responsibility as a social justice icon, but does not compromise the sobering reality of the country's racial unrest in 1963.”
(Vanessa Willoughby, School Library Journal)
5. Books about diversity for older children (Ages 8-12)
Just Like Me
By Vanessa Brantley-Newton
“From Vanessa Brantley-Newton comes a collection of poetry filled with engaging mini-stories about girls of all kinds–girls who feel happy, sad, scared, powerful; girls who love their bodies and girls who don't; country girls, city girls; girls who love their mother and girls who wish they had a father. With bright portraits in Vanessa's signature style of vibrant colors and unique patterns and fabrics, this book invites readers to find themselves and each other within its pages.”
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy
By Tony Medina
“These short, vibrant tanka poems about young men of color depict thirteen views of everyday life: young boys dressed in their Sunday best, running to catch a bus, and growing up to be teachers, and much more. Each of Tony Medina's tanka is matched with a different artist--including recent Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Award recipients.”
A Is For Activist
By Innosanto Nagara
“A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives- 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. This engaging little book carries huge messages as it inspires hope for the future, and calls children to action while teaching them a love for books.”
IntersectionAllies
By Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi
“The brainchild of three women-of-color sociologists, IntersectionAllies is a smooth, gleeful entry into intersectional feminism. The nine interconnected characters proudly describe themselves and their backgrounds, involving topics that range from a physical disability to language brokering, offering an opportunity to take pride in a personal story and connect to collective struggle for justice. Advocating respect and inclusion, IntersectionAllies is a necessary tool for learning to embrace, rather than shy away from, difference.”
6. Young Adult
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
By Jason Reynolds
“The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.”
7. Adult
So You Want to Talk About Race
By Ijeoma Oluo
“Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy--from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans--has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.”
