Children’s Literature by Black Authors
A selection of books by Black authors and Illustrators for children of all ages
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
The Youngest Marcher : The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
Child nonfiction, and e-book. Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963. Age: 5-10.
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Nonfiction
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Child nonfiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. A 50th-anniversary tribute shares the story of the youngest person to complete the momentous Selma to Montgomery March, describing her frequent imprisonments for her participation in nonviolent demonstrations and how she felt about her involvement in historic Civil Rights events. Age: 12-17.
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Nonfiction
Louis Armstrong: King of Jazz
Child nonfiction book. “A simple biography for early readers about Louis Armstrong's life."--Provided by publisher. Age: 6-8.
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Nonfiction
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy
Child nonfiction book. Poetry. Age: 8+
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Nonfiction
Black Women Who Dared
Child nonfiction book. "Black Women Who Dared is a children's picture book that colourfully illustrates a history within Canada worth exploring. Highlighting ten extraordinary individuals and groups such as a woman who owned Vancouver's first Black business to an international collective of healers providing basic health care. These biographies reveal rebels and risk takers who were dedicated to serving their dreams as well as serving their communities - stories surely to engage readers of any age or gender."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 9+
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Nonfiction
Ashanti to Zulu : African Traditions
Child nonfiction book. Explains some traditions and customs of 26 African tribes beginning with letters from A to Z. Age: 8-11.
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Nonfiction
We Are America : A Tribute from the Heart
Child nonfiction book. Examines the events and people that have shaped America, providing portraits of figures such as Chief Tecumseh, President Abraham Lincoln, and musician Jimi Hendrix, and featuring lyrical, free-verse poetic text. Age: 8-11.
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Nonfiction
Bad News for Outlaws: the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal
Child nonfiction book. This biography profiles the life of Bass Reeves, a former slave who was recruited as a deputy United States Marshal in the area that was to become Oklahoma. Age: 8-12.
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Nonfiction
Heart and Soul : The Story of America and African Americans
Child nonfiction book, and e-audiobook. A simple introduction to African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the election of President Obama. Includes a timeline. Age: 9-12.
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Nonfiction
Cooper’s Lesson
Child nonfiction book. Text in Korean and English. When Cooper, a biracial Korean-American boy, feels uncomfortable trying to speak Korean in Mr. Lee's grocery, his bad behavior eventually leads to a change in his attitude. Age: 3-10.
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Nonfiction
28 Days : Moments in Black History That Changed the World
Child nonfiction book. A picture book look at many of the men and women who revolutionized life for African Americans throughout history. Age: 4-10.
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Nonfiction
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
Child nonfiction book. The 1960 civil rights sit-ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, are seen through the eyes of a young Southern black girl. Age: 6-9.
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Nonfiction
Schomburg : The Man Who Built a Library
Child nonfiction, e-audiobook, and video on DVD. Traces legal clerk Arturo Schomburg's efforts to curate a collection of African books, letters, music, and art. Age: 9-12.
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Nonfiction
Voice of Freedom : Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Child nonfiction book. Presents a collage-illustrated treasury of poems and spirituals inspired by the life and work of civil rights advocate Fannie Lou Hamer. Age: 10+
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Nonfiction
Brown Girl Dreaming
Child nonfiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. In vivid poems that reflect the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South. Age: 10+
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Audiobooks
Audiobooks
Booked
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Age: 10-15.
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Audiobooks
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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Audiobooks
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
Child picture book, e-audiobook, and e-video. Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair. Age: 6-10.
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Audiobooks
Infinite Hope : A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
Child nonfiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Artist Ashley Bryan's experience as a Black soldier in the segregated army of WWII.” —Provided by publisher. Age: 9-11.
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Audiobooks
I Am Enough
Child picture book, and e-audiobook. We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it. Age: 3-6.
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Audiobooks
Hurricane Child
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Born on Water Island in the Virgin Islands during a hurricane, which is considered bad luck, twelve-year-old Caroline falls in love with another girl--and together they set out in a hurricane to find Caroline's missing mother. Age: 8-12.
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Audiobooks
Like Vanessa
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. It is 1983 and Vanessa Martin, a thirteen-year-old African American girl in Newark's public housing, dreams of following in the footsteps of the first black Miss America, Vanessa Williams; but the odds are against her until a new teacher at school organizes a beauty pageant and encourages Vanessa to enter. Age: 10+
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Audiobooks
Hair Love : a Celebration of Daddies and Daughters Everywhere
Child picture book, e-book, and e-audiobook. A little girl's daddy steps in to help her arrange her curly, coiling, wild hair into styles that allow her to be her natural, beautiful self. Age: 3-8.
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Audiobooks
Before She Was Harriet : The Story of Harriet Tubman
Child nonfiction book, e-book, print with audio book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and e-video. A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse. An evocative poem and opulent watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life. Age: 4-8.
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Audiobooks
Finding Langston
Child fiction book, e-book and audiobook. Discovering a book of Langston Hughes' poetry in the library helps Langston cope with the loss of his mother, relocating from Alabama to Chicago as part of the Great Migration, and being bullied. Age: 8-11.
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Audiobooks
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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Audiobooks
Bud, not Buddy
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. Age: 10 - 13.
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Audiobooks
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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Audiobooks
The Journey of Little Charlie
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. When his poor sharecropper father is killed in an accident and leaves the family in debt, twelve-year-old Little Charlie agrees to accompany fearsome plantation overseer Cap'n Buck north in pursuit of people who have stolen from him; Cap'n Buck tells Little Charlie that his father's debt will be cleared when the fugitives are captured, which seems like a good deal until Little Charlie comes face-to-face with the people he is chasing. Age: 9-12.
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Audiobooks
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963. Age: 10-13.
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Audiobooks
Last Stop on Market Street
Child picture book, e-book, DVD, e-video, and audiobook on CD. Also available in Spanish. Illustrated by Christian Robinson. A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things. Age: 3-6.
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Audiobooks
Mixed Me!
Child picture book, and e-audiobook. Told in rhyming text, Mike is a mixed-race boy, completely comfortable with his identity and his parents--and his wild, curly hair. Age: 4-8.
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Audiobooks
Blended
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police. Age: 9-12.
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Audiobooks
Stella by Starlight
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town. Age: 9-12.
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Audiobooks
Dragons in a Bag
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. First book in the Dragons in a Bag series. In Brooklyn, nine-year-old Jax joins Ma, a curmudgeonly witch who lives in his building, on a quest to deliver three baby dragons to a magical world, and along the way discovers his true calling. Age: 7-10.
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Audiobooks
The Skin I’m In
Child fiction e-audiobook. Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like. Age: 10-13.
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Audiobooks
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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Audiobooks
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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Audiobooks
The Parker Inheritance
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Twelve-year-old Candice Miller is spending the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, in the old house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure--but when she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert. Age: 8-12.
Where to Find:
Audiobooks
Antiracist Baby
Child picture book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Illustrations and rhyming text present nine steps Antiracist Baby can take to improve equity, such as opening our eyes to all skin colors and celebrating all our differences. Age: Birth - 4.
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