If you follow my children’s book sharing posts and tales either here on the blog or on Instagram, you know that my mission is to share as many children’s books as I can that feature black children living life just as all kids do. You know simply enjoying life, playing, living in their fairytales and more. This Black History Month I’m sharing 29 books that celebrate black kids being kids. This list is not only for black children, it’s for all children. I hope it will help to breakdown many of the stereotypes black (and brown) children face.
29 Books That Celebrate Black Kids Being Kids
Babies & Toddlers
These books are some of the first books where kids can get to see themselves being just like all kids. The stories are real, the pictures are sweet and kids are well kids. We have each of these books in our home library and even though kids are 4 1/2 and 7, we still enjoy reading them. They are what I call books every home should own forever.
4 to 7 Years Old
It’s hard to separate out the rest of the books on the list. They range in age from 4 to 7 years old. Honestly all the books on this list including the chapter books work well for this age group too.
- Princess Cupcake Jones and The Queen’s Closet
- Penny and the Magic Puff Balls
- Jabari Jumps
- Happy
- Saturday
- Lola Plants A Garden
- Lola At The Library
- Ada Twist Scientist
- Rachel Isadora’s Rapunzel
- I Lost My Tooth In Africa
- Isn’t My Name Magical
- Peeny Butter Fudge
- Do Not Bring Your Dragon To The Library
- The Library Book
- More-Igami
- When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop
- Riley Can Be Anything
- Lemonade In Winter
- The Word Collector
- City Shapes
- I Got The Rhythm
6 To 10 Years Old & Independent Readers
We usually enjoy chapter books as read alouds. What I love about these books is that they give more details and the adventures are more graphic. Many early chapter books have pictures too. My seven year old can now read most of these books on her own. Starting them as read alouds and hearing her read them now has been such a joy to watch unfold. These short chapter books are a great way to introduce longer books and prepare for independent reading.
This series is our absolute favorite. Here are all the reasons we love Zoey and Sass.
Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants: The Questioneers Book #2
The Questioneers series is the chapter book spinoff from the original picture books. Ada Twist is featured in book 2. We have the collection of both the picture books and the chapter books that have come out so far.
Jaden Toussaint The Greatest Series
I love that the Jaden Toussaint series features an adventurous black boy. The story lines are relatable and the plot is plenty in every book. Reading books with a black male protagonist is a must for us.
There are many more books I could add to this list. I encourage you to seek out books that show black kids and all kids of different ethnicities and cultures. Expanding your child’s library is the beginning of teaching them about Global History and children from around the world including kids right where they live.
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