AGES 4-8 / GRADES K-3

Jason Reynolds (A) and Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – A Celebration of Langston Hughes – 2023)

A Caldecott Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds’s debut picture book is…

Marlon McKinney (A and ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Comic Book/ Graphic Novel  A Fantasy Story – Queen of Sheba – 2021)

A beautiful Ethiopian princess must use courage, strength, and leadership to conquer a dangerous enemy set on destroying the wealthy Kingdom of Sheba.

Princess Makeda was born into a loving royal family…

Sasha Ariel Alston (A) and Vanessa Newton Brantley

List Price: $14.99 (Hardcover – STEM/ Tween / Learns to Code- 2017)

Selected for the 2018 Girls of Summer Reading List
Sasha Savvy Loves to Code is an early reader chapter book (ages 7-10). The main character, Sasha Savvy, is a super smart 10-year old…

Lat Ashia M. Perry (A) & Bea kjackson (ILT)

List Price: $10.95 (Paperback – Children Self Esteem – 2015)

Hair Like Mine is the first book in the Kids Like Mine Series. It is a fun and easy read following a little girl who doesn’t like that her naturally curly hair looks…

Kelly Starling Lyons (A) and Laura Freeman (ILT)

List Price $20.95 (Hardcover – Builder / Designer / Architect – 2021)

The Story of Architect Philip Freelon

You’ve seen the building. Now meet the man whose life went into it.

Philip Freelon’s grandfather was an acclaimed painter of the Harlem…

Writer Danielle Joseph and illustrator Olivier Ganthier’s I Want to Ride the Tap Tap is a day-of-the-week picture book about a Black family who ride the taxi-bus service―called a tap tap―in Haiti, and the fascinating people they meet along the way, illustrated by a Haitian artist known for his vibrant…

Robert D. San Souci (A) and Brian Pinkney (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Folktale/ Mermaid – 1996)

Sukey’s new step-pa is a mean, bossy man. Every day Sukey wakes at dawn to work in the garden. All her step-pa ever does is watch her and yell if she so much as stops…

A stunning, poetic debut picture book from Pasha Westbrook about honoring one’s roots and the unbreakable bond of familial love, brought to life with enchanting illustrations by Madelyn Goodnight.

Father braids my hair, just like his,

scented of coconut oil, the familiar tug of fingers on my scalp,

love in every twist…

As a young…

Before the Ships is a powerful and poetic celebration of the early roots of Black history. The great achievements and accomplishments across Africa prior to the Transatlantic slave trade are told through melodious text and evocative illustrations, that culminate into the strength and resilience of modern-day Black people.

For so many of us,…

Tony Dungey (A)

List Price: $19.99. (Hardcover – Finding Your Talent and Following Your a Dream – 2008)

Tony Dungy’s little brother, Linden, is a third grader who is having a bad day at school. Linden is the youngest of the Dungy family and the least motivated because he hasn’t found “it.” In a family…

Isabel Quintero (A)and Zeke Pena (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Father and Daughter Enjoy The Day -2019)

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo.

When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi…

Calvin Alexander Ramsey (A) and Gwen Strauss (A) and Floyd Cooper

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Jim Crow Era / Prejudice and Racism – 2010 )

Ruth was so excited to take a trip in her family’s new car! In the early 1950s, few African Americans could afford to buy cars, so this…

Marilyn Singer (A) and Kristi Valiant (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Social Dance and Poetry –  2017)

An irresistible book of poems about dancing that mimic the rhythms of social dances from cha-cha to two-step, by the acclaimed author of Mirror Mirror

Description: Marilyn Singer has crafted a vibrant collection of poems celebrating all…

Camille Yarbrough (A)

List Price: $7.95 (Paperback – Family / Decision Making – 2004)

Tamika loves being a member of the Sweet Fruit club. Tamika also loves to wonder and use her mind freely. But sometimes this gets her into trouble, especially…

Bunmi Laditan (A) and Tom Knight (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Family – 2018)

From Bunmi Laditan, the creator of the Honest Toddler blog, The Big Bed is a humorous picture book about a girl who doesn’t…

Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Family Spending Quality Time / Father/ Son – 2008)

What began as a spiritual has developed into one of America best-known songs, and now for the first time it appears as a picture book, masterfully created by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson. Through sublime…

2024 Golden Poppy Award Winner

An intimate look at Juneteenth, this story is a warm exploration of 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. It is friends…

Derrick Barnes (A) and Shawn Martinbrough (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Super Powers / Emotion / Self-Control – 2024)

All it takes is a loving teacher to help a boy get control of his sizzling superpowers, in this vibrant picture book by bestselling author Derrick Barnes.

Bobby Beacon’s…

Gail E. Haley (A and ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – African Tale / Ananse The Spider – 1970)

Once, all the stories in the world belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. He kept them in a box beside his throne. But Ananse, the Spider man,…

Taye Diggs (A) Shane Evans (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Identity / Skin Color / Self Acceptance / Self-Esteem / Teasing – 2011)

The boy is teased for looking different than the other kids. His skin is darker, his hair curlier. He tells his mother he wishes he could be more like…

What happens when a community discovers that vegetables have more to teach than just how to fill a plate?

Farmer B has spent a lifetime feeding his town, but when age and loneliness creep in, he wonders: who will carry the harvest forward? Then, a chorus of children, neighbors, and even the veggies themselves step…

Four-time NBA champion and superstar Stephen Curry makes a splash with his picture book debut inspiring young readers to unlock their very own superpower.

“A positive boost from a strong role model.” —Kirkus

“With accessible advice honoring commitment to craft and fortitude,…

Meena Harris (A ) and  Ana Ramirez Gonzalez (ILT)  

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Community / Creating a Garden – 2021)

A beautiful, empowering picture book about two sisters who work with their community to effect change, inspired by a true story from the childhood of the author’s aunt, Kamala Harris,…

Pete Seeger (Storysong) and Michael Hays (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Folktale / South African – 2003)

American folk singer Pete Seeger retells a South African folktale about a boy and his father who, after being banished from town for making mischief, are welcomed back when they find a way…

Help your kids process big feelings, build a social-emotional tool kit, and find beauty in life’s challenges with this creative story that expresses the hope of the gospel from podcast host, speaker, and mom Toni Collier.

Avery has big emotions and bubbling anxieties about changes in her life. When her…

Patricia C. McKissack (A) and April Johnson (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Celebrates – 2019)

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. 

Description: “Misery loves company,” Mama says to James…

Breanna J. McDaniel (A) and Shane Evans (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – From Hands Up to Protest – 2019)

This triumphant picture book recasts a charged phrase as part of a black girl’s everyday life–hands up for a hug, hands up in class, hands up for a high five–before culminating in a moment…

In this timely follow-up to the best-selling, genre-defining Young, Gifted and Black, you can meet 52 more Black icons from around the world – this time spanning even more countries and including inspiring figures from as far back as the 1500s right up to present-day heroes.

Featuring the stories of recent changemakers such…

For me, brown is more than feeling proud.
It’s the color I see when I see me.

Zahra sees the world in vivid color. When she’s happy, she feels a razzle-dazzle pink in her hands. When she’s sad, she feels a deep blue behind her eyes. But she isn’t quite sure how…

Patrick Adom (Creator and Founder)

List Price: $23.00 (Jig Saw Puzzle – Senegal – 2020)

Puzzles are a great way for you and your family to bond with children.  The 100 Piece SENEGAL MAP Puzzle is definitely something that can be enjoyed by all.  Each region is represented with a variety of legendary icons,…

Tim Tingle (A) and Jeanne Rorex Bridges (ILT)

List Price: $12.95 (Paperback – Choctaw / African American / Friendship and Escape – 2008)

When it was first published, Crossing Bok Chitto took readers by surprise. This moving and original story about the intersection of Native and African Americans received starred reviews and many…

Walter Dean Myers (A), Leonard Jenkins (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Leader / Revolutionary – 2003)

“I believe in recognizing every human being
as a human being, neither white, black, brown, nor red.”

This was just one of the messages that Malcolm X brought to people of…

In this book from the #1 New York Times bestselling series, learn how this vibrant Black neighborhood in upper Manhattan became home to the leading Black writers, artists, and musicians of the 1920s and 1930s.

Travel back in time to the 1920s and 1930s to the sounds of jazz in nightclubs and the…

Kelly Starling Lyons (A) and Daniel Minter (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Family / Heritage – 2019) 

A 2020 CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK

Set at one young boy’s annual family reunion, this Caldecott Honor-winning picture book by Kelly Starling Lyons and Daniel Minter is a rich…

Mary Hoffman (A)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Friendship / Grief and Loss – 2112)

The spirited little girl with a big imagination who stars in Amazing Grace has two fun chapter books! In Encore, Grace!, when Grace’s family and group of friends change, Grace turns to her imagination to cope with things…

Daphne Muse (A), Charlotte Riley-Webb (ILT), and Charlotte Riley-Webb (ILT)

List Price: $16.95 (Hardcover – Poetry / Harlem Renaissance – 2005)

A remarkable and much-needed collection for the youngest lovers of poetry, Entrance Place of Wonders: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance features poems from the leaders of this cultural movement…

Chris Paul (A) and Courtney Lovett (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover –  Basketball and Grandpa – 2023)

From NBA All-Star Chris Paul comes an inspirational and uplifting picture book about chasing your basketball dreams and the lessons he learned both on and off the court from his beloved grandfather Papa Chilly.

Growing up, young…

A singular, richly illustrated picture book biography of Bayard Rustin, the gay Black man behind the March on Washington of 1963, by the acclaimed authors of Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre and Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag.

On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million activists and demonstrators from every corner of…

Doug Kuntz (A) and Amy Shrodes (A) and Sue Cornelison (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – A Story About Compassion – 2017)

This heartwarming true story of one lost cat’s journey to be reunited with his refugee family gently introduces children to a difficult topic and shows how ordinary people can help with…

Cathyrn Falwell (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback / Family / Counting – 2003)

In this rhyming counting book, an African-American mother and her children shop for and prepare a festive family dinner. At the supermarket, the count begins with one grocery cart and ends with ten hands helping to load the…

Did you know dandelions thrive on all seven continents?

The cheery blooms are among the most resilient and adaptable in the world. In this lyrical book, learn how the crafty plant travels on the wind and hitches rides in all manner of ways in order to spread far and wide. Includes a…

Sharon Dennis Wyeth (A), Sharon Dennis Wyeth (ILT) , Chris K. Soentpiet (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Finding Beauty Everywhere – 2002)

Everyday a young girl is disheartened by the things in her neighborhood: the trash on the streets, the graffiti on the walls, and the homeless woman that sleeps in a…

Faith Ringgold (A and ILT)

A Pre-reading Development Agenda

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Pre-school Sight Words – 2004)

Join Cassie, the main character from the picture book Tar Beach, as she takes readers on a tour of her home, neighborhood, and school, introducing dozens of new words and their meaning. Young…

Chris Barton (A) and Don Tate (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Inventor –  2016)

You know the Super Soaker. It’s one of top twenty toys of all time. And it was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, impressive inventor Lonnie…

From Super Bowl champion and literacy crusader Malcolm Mitchell comes an exciting new story that shows even reluctant readers that there is a book out there for everyone!

Meet Henley, an all-around good kid, who hates to read. When he’s supposed to be reading, he would rather do anything else. But one day, he gets…

Julie Gassman(A) and Andy Ekerton ILT)

List Price: $14.95 ( Hardcover – Playful Behavior Advice – 2016)

Have you ever thought about bringing your dragon to the library? Don’t do it! You might have the best intentions, but that dragon will cause nothing but trouble. Using rhyming text and a diverse cast of…