Children’s Literature by Black Authors
A selection of books by Black authors and Illustrators for children of all ages
Picture Books
Picture Books
Hope’s Gift
Child picture book. A runaway slave during the Civil War, Hope's father returns after the Emancipation Proclamation as a member of the U.S. Colored Troops. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
Sing a Song : How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations
Child picture book. Illustrations and easy-to-read text follow a family through five generations as each is inspired by the song written in 1900 to honor Abraham Lincoln. Includes author's note on the history of the song and its meaning in her family. Age: 6-9.
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Picture Books
These Hands
Child picture book. An African American man tells his grandson about a time when, despite all the wonderful things his hands could do, they could not touch bread at the Wonder Bread factory. Based on stories of bakery union workers; includes historical note. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Hands Up!
Child picture book, and e-book. “A young girl lifts her hands up in a series of everyday moments before finally raising her hands in resistance at a protest march."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 3-8.
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Picture Books
Goin’ Someplace Special
Child picture book. In segregated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and obstacles to get to one of the few integrated places in town: the public library. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
What Is Given from the Heart
Child picture book, and e-book. Despite their own poverty since Daddy died, Mama tells nine-year-old James Otis they need to help Sarah, whose family lost everything in a fire. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
Don’t Touch My Hair
Child picture book. Aria loves her soft and bouncy hair, but must go to extremes to avoid people who touch it without permission until, finally, she speaks up. Age: 3-8.
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Picture Books
Saturday
Child picture book. When all of their special Saturday plans go awry, Ava and her mother still find a way to appreciate one another and their time together. Age: 3-8.
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Picture Books
Thank You, Omu!
Child picture book, print with audio book, e-book, e-audio book, e-video. Book in English or Spanish. Alternate title: Gracias, Omu! When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, her neighbors arrive, one by one, for a taste until all is gone except for her generous spirit. Age: 3-7.
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Picture Books
The Proudest Blue : A Story of Hijab and Family
Child picture book, and e-book. Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
City Shapes
Child picture book. “A young girl walks through the bustling city, while a pigeon flies above, both spotting hidden shapes at every turn."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 3-7.
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Picture Books
Looking Like Me
Child picture book, and audiobook on cd with print book. Jeremy sets out to discover all of the different "people" that make him who he is, including brother, son, writer, and runner. Age: 5-9.
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Picture Books
Blue Sky White Stars
Child picture book, e-book, and audiobook on CD. Wonderfully spare, deceptively simple verses pair with richly evocative paintings to celebrate the iconic imagery of our nation, beginning with the American flag. Each spread, sumptuously illustrated by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson, depicts a stirring tableau, from the view of the Statue of Library at Ellis Island to civil rights marchers shoulder to shoulder, to a spacecraft at Cape Canaveral blasting off. Age: 4-7.
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Picture Books
Bein' With You This Way
Child picture book. Audiobook on cd narrated in Spanish. A playground rap that introduces young readers to how people are different yet the same. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
Sulwe
Child picture book, and e-book. Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. Age: 3-8.
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Picture Books
This Is It
Child picture book. “A young dancer finds confidence in herself in this picture book about dance, individuality, and self expression."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children
Child picture book. Photographs and poetic text celebrate the beauty and diversity of African American children. Age: 3-11.
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Picture Books
The Old Truck
Child picture book. “On a small family farm, an old truck falls into disrepair and lies nearly forgotten, except by the family's daughter. The truck is part of her daydreams as she grows up and develops strength and independence. As an industrious young woman, she pulls the rusted and overgrown vehicle from its almost-grave and restores it.” —Provided by publisher. Age: 3-5.
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Picture Books
The Bell Rang
Child picture book, and e-book. Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free. An ode to hope and a powerful tribute to the courage of those who ran for freedom, The Bell Rang is a stunning reminder that our past can never be forgotten. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Night Boat to Freedom
Child picture book. At the request of his fellow slave Granny Judith, Christmas John risks his life to take runaways across a river from Kentucky to Ohio. Based on slave narratives recorded in the 1930s. Age: 6-9.
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Picture Books
Harlem Renaissance Party
Child picture book. Come one, come all to a party today in Harlem! Celebrate the great men and women of the Harlem Renaissance. Lonnie and his Uncle Bates go on an unforgettable journey back in time to the Harlem Renaissance. Along the way, they meet the famous writers, musicians, artists, and athletes who created this incredible period. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Tar Beach
Child picture book, and big book. A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family. Based on the author's quilt painting of the same name. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
Child picture book. “A biography of African American musician Melba Doretta Liston, a virtuoso musician who played the trombone and composed and arranged music for many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century. Includes afterword, discography, and sources."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 6-8.
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Picture Books
Boonoonoonous Hair!
Child picture book. “In this picture book, a young black girl learns to love her difficult-to-manage hair."--Provided by publisher. Age: 3-6.
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Picture Books
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters : An African Tale
Child picture book, and e-audiobook. Mufaro's two beautiful daughters, one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife. Age: 3-8.
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Picture Books
Freedom in Congo Square
Child picture book, e-book, video on DVD, and e-video. As slaves relentlessly toiled in an unjust system in 19th century Louisiana, they all counted down the days until Sunday, when at least for half a day they were briefly able to congregate in Congo Square in New Orleans. This story chronicles slaves' duties each day, from chopping logs on Mondays to baking bread on Wednesdays to plucking hens on Saturday, and builds to the freedom of Sundays and the special experience of an afternoon spent in Congo Square. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Each Kindness
Child picture book, and e-video. When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya's shabby clothes and refusing to play with her. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
The Day You Begin
Child picture book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider. Age: 4-7.
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Picture Books
The Other Side
Child picture book. Two girls, one white and one black, gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides their town. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
This is the Rope : A Story from the Great Migration
Child picture book. A rope passed down through the generations frames an African American family's story as they journey north during the time of the Great Migration. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
The Night Is Yours
Child picture book. From a vantage point high in their apartment, a parent narrates as Amani plays hide-and-seek at night with her friends in the neighborhood. Age: 3-7.
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Picture Books
Grandpa Cacao : A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family
Child picture book. As a little girl and her father work together to make her birthday cake, he tells the story of her Grandpa Cacao, a farmer from the Ivory Coast. Includes author's note and a cake recipe. Age: 3-6.
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Early Readers
Early Readers
Cloudy Day/Sunny Day
Child early reader book. Whether the day is cloudy or sunny, it provides lots of opportunities for fun and entertainment. Age: 4-6.
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Early Chapter Books
Early Chapter Books
Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel
Child fiction book, audiobook on CD, and e-book. Spunky third-grader Dyamonde Daniel misses her old neighborhood, but when she befriends a boy named Free, another new student at school, she finally starts to feel at home. Age: 7-9.
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Early Chapter Books
Rock Star
Child early chapter book. First book in the Jada Jones series. Fourth-grader Jada's best friend moved away, but a class project on rocks and minerals, her favorite topic, could mean new friends, if only one of her teammates would stop being mean. Age: 6-8.
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Early Chapter Books
Sadiq and the Pet Problem
Sadiq's third grade class decides that they want a classroom pet, and their teacher, Ms. Battersby, is okay with the idea, so the students form a club to decide what kind of pet to get, and to research how to take care of it.
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Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel
The Crossover
Child fiction book, e-book, e-audiobook, and graphic novel. Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health. Age: 10-15.
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Graphic Novel
New Kid
Child graphic novel, e-book, and e-audiobook. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds--and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself? Age: 9-13.
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Large Print
Large Print
Elijah of Buxton
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on CD, e-audiobook, and large print. In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom. Age: 9-13.
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Large Print
House of Dies Drear
Child fiction large print, and e-audiobook. A black family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Age: 10-13.
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