It starts at home. As parents, we’ve all seen this phrase and know it to be true. We know the earlier and more often we talk to our children about racism the better. This includes offering resources — like books — to help our children begin to understand this systemic problem. Below is a list of recommended children’s books about racism. These titles can help you start or further these difficult, yet essential conversations at home.
Children’s Books About Racism
Toddler
A Is For Activist by Innosanto Nagara
Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin
Why Are You Looking at Me? I Just Have Down Syndrome by Lisa Tompkins
Young Children and Grade School
A Family Is A Family Is A Family by Sara O’Leary
A Kid’s Book About Racism by Jelani Memory
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold & Suzanne Kaufman
Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
Chocolate Milk, Por Favor! Celebrating Diversity with Empathy by Maria Dismondy
Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange
Different Is Awesome! by Ryan Haack
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills by Renee Watson
Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford
I’m Like You, You’re Like Me by Cindy Gainer
I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer
Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story by Reem Faruqi
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Little Legends:Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Lucy’s Umbrella by Sara Madden
Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt
Malcom Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Be Malcom X by Ilyasah Shabazz
Mango, Abuela and Me by Meg Medina
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match by Monica Brown
Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman
My Daddy, Martin Luther King Jr. by Martin Luther King III
My Family Divided: One Girl’s Journey of Home, Loss and Hope by Diane Guerrero
My Hair is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters by Barack Obama
Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights by Rob Sanders
People Aren’t Socks by Liza Dora
Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis by Jabari Asim
President of the Whole Sixth Grade by Sherri Winston
Princess Hair by Sharee Miller
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey
Seeds of Change:Planting a Path to Peace by Jen Johnson
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story by Paula Yoo
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Skin Like Mine by Latashia M. Perry
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Something Happened In Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles by Darlene Friedman and Roger Roth
That’s Not Fair! Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice by Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Tenayuca
The Big Bed by Bunmi Laditan
The Boy and The Wall by Palestinian refugee children in the Aida Refugee Camp
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
The Favorite Daughter by Allen Say
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Long and the Short of It: A Tale About Hair by Barbara Meyers and Lydia Criss Mays
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy
The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
The Peace Book by Todd Parr
The Princess and the Fog by Lloyd Jones
The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The Push: A Story of Friendship by Patrick Gray
The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania Al Abdullah
The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
Uniquely Me by Trace Wilson
Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner
We Are Grateful, Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
We Are Together by Britta Teckentrup
We Came to America by Faith Ringgold
What’s Cool About Braille Code School? by Gracie Benedith-Cane
What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel Nolan
What’s The Difference? Being Different is Amazing! by Doyin Richards
When I Was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson
Winter Candle by Jeron Ashford
Tween
American-Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Playground by 50 Cent
The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford
Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock by
The Iowa City Public Library also offers another great list of antiracist books for middle grade readers.
Teen and Young Adult
Black Lives Matter by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Peña
Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This Side of Home by Renée Watson
We encourage you to keep learning and seeking out resources, including this recommended list of books for white parents talking to white children about race.
