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
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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)

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)

Juneteenth is
Tripplett, Natasha
Paper Book
An intimate look at Juneteenth, this story is a warm look at a family and a community.  Juneteenth is the smell of brisket filling the air. Juneteenth is the sounds of music, dancing, and cheering ringing from the parade outside. It is love. It is prayer....

Holiday Book (Age 5-8)

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)

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 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)

Blue stars : 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)

Art club
Doucet, Rashad
Paper Book
An ALA Best Graphic Novel of 2024 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...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)


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