Children's Book Suggestions | Black History Month 2026

A few of our favorite books about Black Americans past and present published in 2025. For more book ideas, check out our Black History Month lists from past years (2025, 2024 Chapter Books, 2024 Picture Books) 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 17, 2026
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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Children's Book Suggestions | Black History Month 2026

A few of our favorite books about Black Americans past and present published in 2025. For more book ideas, check out our Black History Month lists from past years (2025, 2024 Chapter Books, 2024 Picture Books) 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.

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Big family beach day
Crews, Nina
Paper Book
Kirkus Best Book "The love that binds this family together is as warm as the summer sun." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) An extended family enjoys a day at the beach in this intergenerational tribute to family, friendship, new experiences, and...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Specs
Garrett, Van G.
Paper Book
Fun, lyrical, and electric, Specs is the follow-up picture book to the beloved Kicks, from award-winning poet Van G. Garrett and New York Times bestselling illustrator Reggie Brown. This is a love letter to glasses. But not just any glasses. Only the shiniest, flyest, you-est specs you can...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

A cup of quiet
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
From award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a beautiful picture book about the special bond between a child and grandparent, perfect for fans of Thank You, Omu and Fry Bread. When the squeal of tires and thrum of Grandpa's hammer fill the air, Grandma gets...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Lily's dream : a fairy friendship
Jackson, Bea
Paper Book
A flightless fairy befriends a human girl and discovers her magic in this enchanting picture book from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Parker Looks Up. Lily is a young fairy determined to learn to fly just like the others who soar on shimmering,...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

The polar bear and the ballerina
Velasquez, Eric
Paper Book
How does a bear go to the ballet? A polar bear escapes into New York City in this heartfelt picture book from award-winning Afro-Latino artist Eric Velasquez. A wordless story of unlikely friendship that celebrates art and its ability to connect us. However, this picture book...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Family feast!
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Paper Book
From the award-winning author and illustrator of Standing in the Need of Prayer comes a joyous picture book about an intergenerational Black family cooking a delicious feast and appreciating their quality time together. Aunts, uncles, cousins, all pitch in. ...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

We dig fossils
Agostini, Alliah L.
Paper Book
Get out your shovels and fossil brushes for this delightful Step 2 reader following a family's search for fossils! A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Ava loves rocks! But what she really really loves are fossils! Ava and her family are on a mission...

Early Reader (Level 2)

Sports are fun!
Avant-garde, Zaila
Paper Book
Scripps National Spelling Bee champ, New York Times bestselling author, and Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year Zaila Avant-garde shares her love of sports in this level 1 Step Into Reading book. Perfect for children just beginning to read. Be a soccer star...

Early Reader (Level 1)

I can grow it!
Greenawalt, Kelly
Paper Book
Princess Truly gardens and has fun with her friends, across three rhyming stories perfect for beginning readers! You can read with Acorn! Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic's early reader line, Acorn, aimed at children who are learning to read. With easy...

Early Reader (Level 2)

The fairy fashion show
Jackson, Bea
Paper Book
Lily invites her human friend, Willow, to join the fairy fashion show in this second Level 1 Ready-to-Read in the Fairies Welcome series from New York Times bestselling illustrator Bea Jackson. Fairies love dressing up and creating clothes out of the lovely things they...

Early Reader (Level 2)

A fairy finds her song
Jackson, Bea
Paper Book
A fairy searches for her special skill in this enchanting Level 1 Ready-to-Read in the Fairies Welcome series from New York Times bestselling illustrator Bea Jackson. Every fairy has a talent except Lily...or so she thinks. Her human friend, Willow, knows how special Lily...

Early Reader (Level 2)

Super Ty!
Lyons, Kelly Starling
Paper Book
Ty soars as a superhero in this new book in the Geisel Honor-winning series! Join Ty on his fun adventures in Ty's Travels: Super Ty!, a My First I Can Read book by acclaimed author and illustrator team Kelly Starling Lyons and Niña Mata. Imagination, helpfulness, and play are highlighted,...

Early Reader (Level 2)

Sleepover night!
Ransom, Candice F.
Paper Book
It's sleepover time! Join Brother and Sister as they spend a night away from home in this Step 1 reader, perfect for children who know their alphabet and are eager to learn how to read! The Day kids series is full of family fun! Brother and Sister are having a sleepover! They're...

Early Reader (Level 1)

Makeda makes a mountain
Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
Paper Book
The third 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 Revere...

Early Reader (Level 3)

J vs. K
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
A New York Times and IndieBound bestseller! Created by real-life rivals and #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft this hilarious illustrated story features two talented fifth graders going head...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Inside the park
Williams, Andrea
Paper Book
From Andrea Williams, the bestselling author of We Are Family with LeBron James, comes Inside the Park, the story of a young baseball fan's misadventures after getting locked inside a pro baseball stadium on the eve of the biggest game of the season. In this all-new,...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Jazzy the witch in broom doom
Bagley, Jessixa
Paper Book
"Whimsy abounds in this playful" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade graphic novel about a young witch who struggles to fit in--perfect for fans of The Okay Witch and Hooky! In her town full of witches, Jazzy's always been a little bit different....

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Winging it
Lloyd, Megan Wagner
Paper Book
From the Eisner-nominated creators of instant bestsellers Allergic and Squished comes a charming and funny graphic novel about family, friendship, and self-discovery! Twelve-year-old Luna never wanted to move from California to Virginia, even if it is near historic Washington...

Children's Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Coach
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
Three starred reviews! In this "beautifully executed victory lap" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) to Jason Reynolds's award-winning and New York Times bestselling Track series, meet Coach as a boy striving to come into his own as a track star while...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Will's race for home : a western
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! ★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique ­aspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is ­often under-represented in historical ­fiction. A poignant and honest look at the trials of racism that defined the...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The Book of Anansi
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
The highly anticipated sequel to the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy--a boldly original and suspenseful fantasy adventure by one of the most popular and imaginative voices of this generation, Angie Thomas. All of...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

All the blues in the sky
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year | A Chicago Public Library Best Kids' Book of the Year | An NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book | A 2025 Horn Book Fanfare Selection Book | A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book # 1 New York Times bestselling and...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Space chasers
Melvin, Leland
Paper Book
When a team of brilliant kids-turned-astronauts find themselves in serious trouble in outer space, they must work together to get back home. This is the first book in an incredible middle-grade graphic novel series created by real life astronaut, Leland Melvin! Launch into...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)

One crazy summer
Williams-Garcia, Rita.
Paper Book
In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. A strong option for summer reading--take this book along on a family road...

Young Teen Graphic Novel (Grades 5-7)

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