General Children’s Books-
This first section of suggested books is a collection of ones we have personally read, or that have been recommended by people we trust.
Antiracist Baby by Ibram Kendi (board book)
Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank (board book)
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara (board book) All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman (picture book, preschool and up)
We’re Different, We’re the Same by Sesame Street (picture book, preschool and up)
Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung (picture book, preschool and up)
You Matter by Christian Robinson (preschool)
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson (preschool)
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o (preschool and up)
Whoever You Are by Mem Fox (preschool and up)
ColorFull: Celebrating the Colors that God Gave Us by Dorena Williamson (preschool and up)
*author is local. She and her husband planted Strong Tower Bible Church.
Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw (preschool and up)
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard (preschool and early elementary)
I Am Enough by Grace Byers (preschool and early elementary) A Kids Book About Racism by Jelani Memory (Kindergarten and up)
Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson (parent read/1st grade and up)
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (1st grade and up) Seeds of Change Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World by Jenn Jackson (2nd grade and up) Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham (4th grade and up)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (middle school)
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes (middle school)
African American History Books for Children by Category-all these history categories have been vetted
General:
I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes (Kindergarten and up)
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison (early elementary and up)
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison (early elementary and up)
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (early elementary and up)
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (from slavery through the Civil Rights Act of 1964) by Kadir Nelson (1st grade and up)
28 Days: Moments in Black History the Changed the World by Charles R. Smith and Shane W. Evans (2nd and 3rd grade)
Portraits of African American Heroes by Tonya Bolden and Ansel Pitcairn (3rd grade and up)
Revolutionary War:
The Black Regiment of the American Revolution by Linda Crotta Brennan and Cheryl Kirk Knoll (3rd grade and up)
Black Heroes of the American Revolution (Odyssey Books) by Burke Davis (older elementary/middle school)
Slavery and Abolition:
Frederick’s Journey: The Life of Frederick Douglass by Doreen Rappaport (preschool and up)
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome (preschool and up)
The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome (preschool and up)
Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglas by Lesa Cline Ransome (Kindergarten and up)
Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth by Anne Rockwell and R. Gregory Christie (1st grade and up)
Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney (1st grade and up)
I Am #6: Harriet Tubman by Grace Norwich (2nd grade and up)
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story of the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson (early elementary and up)
A Voice of Her Own: Candlewick Biographies: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet by Kathryn Lasky and Paul Leen (3rd grade and up)
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Brian (4th grade and up)
Pre- Civil Rights Movement:
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Munoz Ryan (2nd grade and up)
Civil Rights Movement:
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles and George Ford (preschool and up)
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (preschool and up)
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier (Kindergarten and up)
If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold (Kindergarten and up)
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney (1st grade and up)
My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
by Christine King Farris and Chris Soentpiet (1st through 6th grades)
March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World by Christine King Farris and London Ladd (3rd grade and up)
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges (3rd grade and up)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (older elementary/middle school)
Scientists, Inventors, Aviators:
George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard (Smart About History) by Laura Driscoll and Jill Weber (Kindergarten and up)
The Hallelujah Flight by Phil Bildner (Kindergarten and up)
Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes and Earl B. Lewis (1st grade and up)
Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger (3rd grade and up)
Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly (4th grade and up)
Historical Fiction chapter books (upper elementary/middle school):
Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (older elementary/middle school)
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (older elementary/middle school)
Sports:
Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World by Jonah Winter and Francois Roca (preschool and up)
Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive by Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez (1st grade and up)
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull and David Diaz (1st grade and up)
A Negro League Scrapbook by Carole Boston Weatherford and Buck O’Neil (3rd grade and up)
Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson (4th grade and up)
Satchel Paige by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome (4th grade and up)
Joe Louis: America’s Fighter by David A. Adler (4th grade and up)
Who Was/Who Is Series: (2nd though middle school)
Who Was Rosa Parks by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Who Was Sojourner Truth? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
What Was the March on Washington? By Kathleen Krull
Who Was Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman
Who Was George Washington Carver? by Jim Gigliotti
Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
What Was the Underground Railroad? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bonnie Bader
Who Is Barack Obama? by Roberta Edwards
Who Is Michelle Obama? by Megan Stine
Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith
Who Was Muhammad Ali? by James Buckley Jr.
Who Was Maya Angelou? by Ellen Labrecque
Who Was Frederick Douglass? by April Jones Prince
Who Was Booker T. Washington? by James Buckley Jr.
Who Was Jesse Owens? by James Buckley Jr.
Who Was Louis Armstrong? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
What is the Civil Rights Movement? by Sherri L. Smith
Who Was Ida B. Wells? by Sarah Fabiny
What Were the Negro Leagues? by Varian Johnson
Who Was Aretha Franklin? by Nico Medina
Faith Based Books for Adults– The suggested books listed below are a collection of ones we have personally read, or that have been recommended by people we trust.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation by LaTasha Morrison
Parable of the Brown Girl: The Sacred Lives of Girls of Color by Khristi Lauren Adams
Raise Your Voice: Why We Stay Silent and How to Speak Up by Kathy Khang
Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming our Ethnic Journey by Sarah Shin
The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right by Lisa Sharon Harper
The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience by Sheila Wise Rowe
Love First: Ending Hate Before It’s Too Late by Don McLaughlin
White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White by Daniel Hill
America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race by John M. Perkins
Roadmap to Reconciliation, Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness, and Justice by Brenda Salter McNeil
The Heart of Racial Justice, How Soul Change Leads to Social Change by Brenda Salter McNeil & Rick Richardson
Other Books
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
Stamped by Ibram Kendi & Jason Reynolds
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram Kendi
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram Kendi
Between the World and Me by Tanehisi Coates
Podcasts, Etc.
Truth’s Table (faith based)
Pass the Mic (faith based)
“Seeing White” series on Scene On Radio
Hope & Hard Pills
The Next Question (web tv show)
Other Voices To Listen To
Dr. Anita Phillips (faith based)
Priscilla Shirer (faith based)
Tony Evans (faith based)
Ekemini Uwan (faith based)
Mika and Christina Edmondson (faith based)
Eric Mason (faith based)
Dante Stewart (faith based)
Brenda Salter McNeil (faith based)
Brittany Packnett Cunningham
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Explore Books on Your Own: https://www.embracerace.org/resources/26-childrens-books-to-support-conversations-on-race-racism-resistance
Audio Book: Something Happened in Our Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=whR_JIzknpo&app=desktop