Children's Book Suggestions | Poverty Awareness Month

Not only is January Poverty Awareness Month, it's also includes HUD's annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count, which estimates how many individuals are living without stable & secure housing. Looking for more books on income inequality? Browse the catalog to find more books on poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity.

Updated January 17, 2026
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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What is given from the heart
McKissack, Pat
Paper Book
CORETTA SCOTT KING - JOHN STEPTOEILLUSTRATORAWARD FOR NEW TALENTWINNER This final, magnificent picture book from three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor author Patricia McKissack is a poignant and uplifting celebration of the joy of giving. ...

A story about the power of generosity centered around a young boy who both gives and receives gifts during his church's Valentine's Day drive for those in need. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Madani's best game
Pintadera, Fran
Paper Book
A heartfelt book featuring a neighborhood soccer team and its determined young star, who has a secret plan even more impressive than his bicycle kicks. No one plays soccer like Madani. When the ball lands on his bare feet, the whole town stops to watch. Even Madani's mother-...
A neighborhood soccer star whose family can't afford shoes saves up his money to buy a special gift. (Picture Books Age 4-8)
Still a family
Reeves Sturgis, Brenda
Paper Book
New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2017 A family has fallen on hard times and are living in different homeless shelters. But even though they are separate, they are still a family. A little girl and her parents have lost their home...
A family maintains their bonds despite the fact that they can only find beds at separate homeless shelters. (Picture Book Age 4-8)
Dear Librarian
Sigwarth, Lydia M.
Paper Book
When Lydia was five years old, she and her family had to leave their home. They hopped from Grandma's house to Aunt Linda's house to Cousin Alice's house, but no place was permanent. Then one day, everything changed. Lydia's mom took her to a new place -- not a house, but a big building with...

Libraries were Lydia's refuge when her family didn't have a home of their own. Now a librarian herself, she writes a thank you letter to the librarian who welcomed her. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

The blue house
Wahl, Phoebe
Paper Book
In the tradition of Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House comes a heartfelt story about a father and son learning to accept the new while honoring and celebrating the old. For as long as he can remember, Leo has lived in the blue house with his dad, but lately the...

A boy and his dad grieve when their landlord decides to tear down their old house and come together to make their new house feel like home. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Priya puts herself first
Fairbairn, Nathan
Ebook
The best dog-walkers in town are back in the third book of this heartwarming graphic novel series that is the Baby-Sitters Club for pets! Perfect for fans of Real Friends and Allergic! The holidays have arrived for the PAWS team! And the girls are about to discover...

This graphic novel series is a must-read for fans of The Baby-Sitters Club! In this third installment, Priya's family is evicted and must move across town, straining her friendships with the other girls in her dog walking business. (Children's Graphic Novels Grades 3-5)

Carry me home
Fox, Janet S.
Paper Book
"A poignant and powerful reminder that homelessness is not hopelessness." --Kirby Larson, author of Newbery Honor book Hattie Big Sky Two sisters struggle to keep their father's disappearance a secret in this tender middle grade novel that's perfect for fans of...

A novel in verse about two girls who must survive on their own in the Montana winter after their dad fails to return to the care where they're living. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

A duet for home
Glaser, Karina Yan
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling creator of the Vanderbeekers series comes a triumphant tale of friendship, healing, and the power of believing in ourselves told from the perspective of biracial sixth-graders June and Tyrell, two children living in a homeless shelter. As their...

A young musician bonds with a longtime resident when her family moves into a homeless shelter. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Something like home
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Audiobook
The Pura Belpré Honor winning novel in verse, in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor winning author of Iveliz Explains It All. "Trust me: this book will touch...

Sent to live with her aunt after a well-meaning 911 call sends them to rehab, Laura copes with her feelings by training a stray puppy to be a therapy dog in this moving novel in verse. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The tenth mistake of Hank Hooperman
Choldenko, Gennifer
Audiobook
Everyone will be rooting for a happy ending for Hank, a boy struggling to hold his family together when his mom doesn't come home, in this gripping story from Newbery Honor winner Gennifer Choldenko. "One of those rare and important books . . . Hank Hooperman may well be the most...

A middle school boy cares for his younger sister when their mom fails to come home in this novel by a Newbery Honor-winning authors. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Operation final notice
Landis, Matthew
Paper Book
Told in alternating points of view, this middle grade novel, following best friends Ronny and Jo, is about anxiety, being in over your head, and learning to accept help-even if you don't know how to ask Eight hundred seventy-eight dollars. That's how much Ronny needs by January...

A gig performing at a nursing home helps tween musicians Jo, who struggles with stage fright, and Ronny, who needs money to prevent his family's eviction following a parent's injury. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The in-between
Van Heidrich, Katie
Paper Book
For fans of Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle and Life in Motion by Misty Copeland, this middle grade memoir in verse with "stellar writing [and] perfect pacing" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) chronicles a young girl and her family who must start over after losing their home...

A memoir in verse about a real girl's experience of housing insecurity and homelessness in the Y2K era. (Children's Nonfiction Age 10-14)

Genesis begins again
Williams, Alicia
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book Winner of the Correta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award A Morris Award Finalist An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 A School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book of 2019 A Kirkus Reviews...

A Black middle schooler struggles with bullying and colorism after her family is evicted from their home. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)


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