Children's Book Suggestions | Black History Month 2025

A few of our favorite books about Black Americans past and present published in 2024. For more book ideas, check out our Black History Month 2024 Picture Book and Chapter Book lists or browse the library catalog.

More great books are honored annually with the Children's Africana Book Award, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and NAACP Image Awards.

Updated January 11, 2025
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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The belly song
Mother Moon
Paper Book
Sing along in this joyful celebration of your baby's perfect belly. Named one of the Best Books of 2024 by Chicago Public Library! "As the pages celebrate many different kinds of human bellies, they simultaneously model a wealth of loving connections...

Board Book (Age 0-2)

The last stand
Eady, Antwan
Paper Book
The author of Nigel and the Moon, delivers a tender intergenerational story inspired by his childhood in the rural south. Here's a farm stand that represents the importance of family, community, and hope. A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BOOKPAGE, and SCHOOL...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Brown Girl, Brown Girl
Honore, Lesle
Paper Book
This powerful and hopeful picture book--inspired by the historic election of Vice President Kamala Harris--celebrates brown and Black girls and is magnificently illustrated by a Caldecott Honor-winning artist. Brown girl, brown girl, what did you see?...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

A terrible place for a nest
Levine, Sara (Veterinarian)
Paper Book
A child learns to settle into a new home in this lyrical and stirring picture book perfect for fans of MEMORY JARS and EVELYN DEL REY IS MOVING AWAY.Juno and his mom have just moved into a new home, and he hates everything about it - the new school, his new classmates, his new room.Just outside his...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

My hair is a book
Oso, Maisha
Paper Book
"Oso's metaphors illustrate how Black hair tells the story of those who wear it; hair announces its wearer's beauty to the world, be it cornrowed, locked, twisted, or curled...A stellar work that belongs in every collection serving young people." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)<...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

My daddy is a cowboy
Seales, Stephanie
Paper Book
A Caldecott Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Book A young girl and her father share an early morning horseback ride around their city in My Daddy Is a Cowboy, an award-winning picture book celebration of "just-us time,"...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Summer is here
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
Celebrate iconic childhood joys in this love letter to summer featuring bright, sun-drenched art, from New York Times bestselling creators Renée Watson and Bea Jackson. Summer is here! No dark clouds in the sky, it's a perfect day for play. What joy...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Crowning glory : a celebration of black hair
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Paper Book
Celebrate the beauty of Black hair creations through the rhyming text and vibrant collage art of lauded Coretta Scott King Award winners Carole Boston Weatherford and Ekua Holmes. Our hair is a lioness, born to be wild. We pride ourselves on flair and style....

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Glenn Burke, game changer : the man who invented the high five
Bildner, Phil
Paper Book
As a rookie baseball player on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Glenn Burke could do it all--hit, throw, catch, score. As a teammate, he was the heart of the clubhouse; he made fellow players laugh and energized them with his enthusiasm. In fact, his habit of congratulating his teammates led Burke to invent...

Children's Nonfiction (Age 5-8)

Bridges instead of walls : the story of Mavis Staples
Staples, Mavis
Paper Book
Legendary singer and Civil Rights activist Mavis Staples has teamed with an award-winning children's poet to share her rousing life story in this spectacular picture book. At 85, Mavis Staples is still singing in front of large audiences and sharing her message of love, faith,...

Children's Nonfiction (Age 6-9)

Blexi, play!
Agostini, Alliah L.
Paper Book
Description: Blexi listens to Mom, Blexi listens to Dad, but Blexi doesn't listen to Liam! In this level 1 early reader (Paw Prints Readers), watch Liam learn patience and kindness as he and family play with the new smart speaker at home.
Words are magic!
Avant-garde, Zaila
Paper Book
Scripps National Spelling Bee champ Zaila Avant-garde shares her love of words with new readers in this level 1 Step Into Reading book. A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Words are magic! Have you heard? Pick a letter. Make a word!

Early Reader (Level 1)

Showtime!
Lyons, Kelly Starling
Paper Book
Ty rocks out with friends in this new book in the Geisel Honor-winning series! Join Ty on his imaginative adventures in Ty's Travels: Showtime, a My First I Can Read story by acclaimed author and illustrator team Kelly Starling Lyons and Niña Mata. Music, imagination,...

Early Reader (Level 2)

Ready? Set. Puppies!
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux
Paper Book
The puppies are coming! This Step 2 is perfect for readers age 4 to 6 and captures the anticipation of waiting for your best friend's dog to have puppies. Will Raymond get to keep one? Raymond and Roxy love playing together-and so do their pets! One day, Raymond learns that Roxy...

Early Reader (Level 2)

Field day!
Ransom, Candice F.
Paper Book
Get ready for some outdoor fun in this Step 1 book that's perfect for readers ages 4-6! Join the Day kids as they gear up for field day at school. What's more fun than field day? The Day kids are so excited! They gobble their breakfast and race to the bus. So many fun things are...

Early Reader (Level 1)

Gamerville
Christmas, Johnnie
Paper Book
A video gamer's championship aspirations are dashed when his parents send him to Camp Reset, where electronics are forbidden and you're forced to socialize, eat healthy, and spend time outside. Gamerville is a timely and vulnerable exploration of the importance of human connection...

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Makeda Makes a Home for Subway
Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
Paper Book
The second title in a delightful new Level 2 I Can Read! series from acclaimed author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and illustrator Lydia Mba, starring Makeda, an exuberant seven-year-old "maker" and problem solver who loves to create. Perfect for readers who love Rosie...

Early Reader (Level 3)

The big protest
Platt, Christine A.
Paper Book
Young reporter Frankie and her news crew of beloved toys learn why and how people protest as this engaging series continues. There's breaking news on TV at Frankie's house--a protest to demand justice! Frankie's mama, a journalist, gets a call to cover the story, and Frankie...

Bridging Fiction (Grades 2-4)

Evelyn and Avery : the art of friendship.
Pierre, Elle
Paper Book
Set in a whimsical world with both human and animal friends, this debut graphic novel series is about besties who make crafts, mistakes, and friendships. Publishers Weekly Early Reader Spotlight Pick! Kirkus Reviews says, "A cute yet complex tale about solving conflicts with creative...

Bridging Graphic Novel (Grades 2-4)

One big open sky
Cline-Ransome, Lesa
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book Three women narrate a perilous wagon journey westward that could set them free--or cost them everything they have--in this intergenerational verse novel that explores the history of the Black homesteader movement. 1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The secret library
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a page-turning fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story. Since Grandpa died, Dally's days are...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Running in flip-flops from the end of the world
Reynolds, Justin A.
Paper Book
A hilarious middle-grade from justin a. reynolds that asks: What happens when five unsupervised kids face the apocalypse under outrageously silly circumstances? When twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway and his friends are left home from Beach Bash, aka the greatest party of the year,...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Buckle up!
Lindell, Lawrence
Paper Book
Figuring out family is no easy street, especially in a divorce. Perfect for fans of New Kid and Smile, this contemporary graphic novel introduces a young boy navigating life with his dad, one car ride at a time. Lonnie is going through big changes in his life-with...

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Blue stars. Mission 1, The vice principal problem
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
Two everyday superheroes set out to save the world--starting with their school--in an exciting new middle-grade graphic series from two award-winning authors and a debut illustrator. When cousins Riley Halfmoon and Maya Dawn move to Urbanopolis to live with their activist grandma...

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

History Comics Hip-Hop : The Beat of America
Williams, Jarrett.
Paper Book
MUSICAL REVOLUTION SWEEPS NATION AND BEYONDHow did a bunch of young people from the inner city create a genre of music that became a global phenomenon? From its humble origins at house parties in the Bronx, where DJs mixed old records to create new sounds, charismatic MCs let their clever lyrics...

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Warrior on the mound
Headen, Sandra W.
Paper Book
Narrated by twelve-year-old Cato, this intense and evocative story of racial unrest in prewar North Carolina ends with a dramatic match between white and Black little league teams. 1935. Twelve-year-old Cato wants nothing more than to play baseball, perfect his pitch, and meet Mr...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Jax Freeman and the phantom shriek
Mbalia, Kwame
Paper Book
"I loved everything about this book."--Rick Riordan, New York Times #1 best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series 12-year-old Jax Freeman discovers a secret world where a diverse group of students with unique talents wield magic by summoning the power of...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The everybody experiment
Ramée, Lisa Moore
Paper Book
From the award-winning author of A Good Kind of Trouble, Lisa Moore Ramée, comes a hilarious and heartfelt young middle grade novel, in the vein of Judy Blume, about friendship, fitting in, and the ups and downs of middle school. Sure to resonate with fans of Rebecca Stead...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Art club
Doucet, Rashad
Paper Book
Inspired by the author's own childhood, this contemporary graphic novel paints a picture of an aspiring young artist on a mission to prove that the arts are worth fighting for.  Dale Donavan has heard the same lecture over and over again: Art will get you...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)

Timid
Todd, Jonathan
Paper Book
A semiautobiographical middle-grade graphic novel about frenemies, fitting in, and finding your voice.Cecil Hall and his family have just moved from Florida to Massachusetts, near Boston. Cecil is anxious about making friends because he doesn't know where he'll fit in. His older sister, Leah,...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)

Weirdo
Weaver, Tony, Jr./ Wibowo, Jess (ILT)/ Wibowo, Cin (ILT)
Paper Book
From rising star Tony Weaver, Jr. comes a middle-grade graphic novel memoir about an awkward preteen who loves all things geeky but struggles with mental health issues and self-doubt, perfect for fans of Jerry Craft's New Kid.Eleven-year-old Tony Weaver, Jr. loves comic books, anime, and video games...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)


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