Black History Month - Featured Kids Titles

Updated March 17, 2026
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The ABCs of Black history
Cortez, Rio
Paper Book
In this New York Times bestseller that takes a bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture, B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries,...
Hair like Obama's, hands like Lebron's
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Paper Book
From Colin Kaepernick to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Benjamin Crump, Hair Like Obama's, Hands Like Lebron's is a picture book celebration of Black history and excellence from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by...
Black-eyed peas and hoghead cheese : a story of food, family, and freedom
Armand, Glenda
Paper Book
A little girl helping her grandmother prepare a holiday meal learns about the origins of soul food in this powerful picture book that celebrates African American cuisine and identity from an award-winning author. Know what I like most about Grandma's kitchen? More...
Freedom braids
Duncan, Monique (African American author)
Paper Book
Gather the midnight strands, tend the roots that gave you life, weave hopes into pathways-- paths that lead you home. Day after day, Nemy sows seeds, pulls weeds, and strips leaves in the sugarcane plantation where she is enslaved....
Keyana loves her family
Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of I Love My Hair!, Keyana has big plans for her family movie night, but when things start to fall apart she learns how to rely on the support of her loved ones.  Keyana's always full of big ideas. Her latest and greatest plan...
Soul food Sunday
Bingham, Winsome
Paper Book
On Sundays, everyone gathers at Granny's for Soul Food. But today, I don't go to the backyard or the great room. I follow Granny instead. "You're a big boy now," Granny says. "Time for you to learn." At Granny's, Sunday isn't Sunday...
Brown : the many shades of love
James, Nancy Johnson
Paper Book
Celebrating all the beautiful browns in one child's colorful family Mama's brown is chocolate, clear, dark, and sweet. Daddy's brown is autumn leaf, or like a field of wheat. Granny's brown is like honey, and Papa's like caramel. In this loving and lovely ode to the color...
Boonoonoonous hair!
Senior, Olive
Paper Book
In this vibrant and exquisitely illustrated picture book, written by Commonwealth Prize-winning Jamaican-Canadian Olive Senior, and with pictures by the acclaimed artist Laura James (the team that created Anna Carries Water), a young girl learns to love her difficult-to-manage, voluminous and...
I am my ancestors' wildest dreams
Moore, Tanisia
Paper Book
YOU are your ancestors' wildest dreams. How will you express YOUR greatness? Perfect for fans of I Am Every Good Thing, Little Legends, and All Because You Matter. "Affirming. . . . A joyful tribute." -- Kirkus Reviews "A vibrant,...
Dear Black boy
Marty
Paper Book
Written and illustrated by multitalented father and Super Bowl champion Martellus Bennett, Dear Black Boy is a letter of encouragement to all boys of color who feel like sports is their only choice. Dear Black Boy, Today is the day that we lace up our shoes...
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) "An...
Holding her own : the exceptional life of Jackie Ormes
Todd, Traci N.
Paper Book
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book * Robert F. Sibert Honor Book An evocative picture book biography about the prolific life of Jackie Ormes, whose groundbreaking cartoons became some of the first empowering depictions of Black women in America! Jackie Ormes made...
Recognize! : an anthology honoring and amplifying Black life
Hudson, Wade
Paper Book
In the stunning follow-up to The Talk- Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, award-winning Black authors and artists come together to create a moving anthology collection celebrating Black love, Black creativity, Black resistance, and Black life. "A multifaceted,...
The people remember
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her debut picture book--a tour de force that uses the principles of Kwanzaa to talk about the history of African Americans. This lyrical, powerful tribute is sumptuously illustrated by New Yorker artist and rising star Loveis...
Little legends : exceptional men in black history
Harrison, Vashti
Paper Book
Author-illustrator Vashti Harrison shines a bold, joyous light on black men through history in this #1 New York Times bestseller. An important book for readers of all ages, this beautifully illustrated and engagingly written volume brings to...
You come from greatness : a celebration of black history
Chinakwe, Sara
Paper Book
A young boy learns that he is walking in the footsteps of greatness through a vibrant, lyrical retelling of Black history-both a love letter to Black children and an anthem empowering them to know their God-given worth. "A reminder to Black children that they are capable of...
Call and response : the story of Black Lives Matter
Chambers, Veronica
Paper Book
Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter is a broad and powerful exploration of the history of Black Lives Matter told through photographs, quotes, and informative text by New York Times bestselling authors Veronica Chambers and Jennifer Harlan. In this essential history, New...
How sweet the sound
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
Featuring artists ranging from Miles Davis to Kendrick Lamar, dive into this stunningly illustrated celebration of the history of Black music in America by the award-winning author of The Undefeated. Listen to the sound of...
I heard : an American Journey
Avery, J. Nailah
Paper Book
A powerful and poetic picture book about Black history in the United States, from the shores of Africa and slavery, to the civil rights and Black Lives Matter movements. With stunning lyricism reminiscent of traditional African spirituals and today's rhythm and flow of hip-hop, a...
Slavery and Reconstruction : the struggle for Black civil rights
Smith, Elliott
Paper Book
After the traumas of slavery and the Civil War came the Reconstruction era. Lasting from 1865 to 1877, the period saw huge gains made as Black people built political power and established schools, churches, and newspapers. Still, racism and resentments from the war meant that Reconstruction left...
Greatness
Bethencourt, Regis
Paper Book
Take a journey through Black history and find your greatness in this stunning book from the award-winning team behind the New York Times bestsellers Crowned and Glory. When Nasir and Imani step into their Grandma's studio,...
Have I ever told you Black lives matter
King, Shani Mahiri
Paper Book
Black lives matter. That message would be self-evident in a just world, but in this world and this America, all children need to hear it again and again, and not just to hear it but to feel and know it. This book affirms the message repeatedly, tenderly, with cumulative power and shared...
Inheritance : a visual poem
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
They tell me to "fix" my hair. And by fix, they mean straighten, they mean whiten; but how do you fix this shipwrecked history of hair? In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the...
The 1619 Project : born on the water
Hannah-Jones, Nikole
Paper Book
The 1619 Project's lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renee Watson. A...
Discovering Black America : from the age of exploration to the twenty-first century
Tarrant-Reid, Linda.
Paper Book
Discovering Black America offers readers an unprecedented account of more than 400 years of African American history set against a background of American and global events. The book begins with a black sailor aboard the Niña with Christopher Columbus and continues through the...
Ida B. Wells : journalist, advocate & crusader for justice
Dunbar, Erica Armstrong
Paper Book
Meet journalist and activist Ida B. Wells in this second vibrant middle grade biography in the Rise. Risk. Remember. Incredible Stories series spotlighting Black women who left their mark on history from acclaimed and New York Times bestselling author Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Candace...
Star sailor : my life as a NASA astronaut
Bolden, Charles
Paper Book
Space science and shared humanity shine as the first Black head of NASA offers an up-close and thrilling account of his shuttle missions, including some of the defining moments of NASA's history. With immersive full-color photos. Sail the stars with astronaut Charlie Bolden as he...
The first step : how one girl put segregation on trial
Goodman, Susan E.
Paper Book
The inspiring story of four-year-old Sarah Roberts, the first African American girl to try to integrate a white school, and how her experience in 1847 set greater change in motion. Junior Library Guild Selection 2017 Orbis Pictus Honor Book Chicago...
The fierce 44 : black Americans who shook up the world
Reiss, Stephen
Paper Book
A dynamic collective biography that presents 44 of America's greatest Black movers and shakers, from Frederick Douglass to Aretha Franklin to Barack Obama, written by ESPN's TheUndefeated and illustrated with dazzling portraits by Rob Ball. From visionaries to entrepreneurs, athletes...
Joyful, joyful : stories celebrating Black voices
Adeola, Dapo.
Paper Book
A gorgeous collection of stories and poems celebrating joy, showcasing 40 talented Black writers and artists from across the world. Curated by Waterstone's Children's Book Prize Winner Dapo Adeola, with a foreword by Patrice Lawrence. Vibrant and illustrated throughout, this...

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