AGES 4-8 / GRADES K-3

Verna Aardema (A), Leo Dillon (ILT), & Diane Dillon (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Folk Tale / West Africa – 2004)

In this astonishingly beautiful and imaginatively illustrated picture book, Mosquito tells Iguana a tall…

Vanda Micheaux Nelson (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African History / Harlem Bookstore – 2016)

“In the 1930s, Lewis’s dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the…

Kathryn Erksine (A) and Charly Parker (ILT)

List Price: $22.50 (Hardcover – South Africa / Singer / Activist – 2017)

Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award–winning South African singer, rose to fame in the hearts of her people at the pinnacle of apartheid―a brutal system of segregation similar to American Jim Crow laws. Mama…

Alice Walker (A) and Queenbe Monyei (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Poetry – 2022)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and activist Alice Walker invites readers young and old to see the world—and our place in it—through new eyes in this new edition featuring art from Queenbe Monyei.

With beautifully poetic…

Shaquille O’Neal (A) and Theodore Taylor III (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Hardcover – Basketball Star / Confidence – 2017)

This new story in the exciting series created by Shaquille O’Neal and illustrated by Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent award winner Theodore Taylor III, encourages kids to find their own true talents.

Like…

This joyful, intergenerational love story celebrates Black hair, self-care, and cultural pride. Perfect for fans of Hair Love and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.

It’s wash day―Tasha’s least favorite day of the week!

Wash day means stinging eyes, aching back, and water everywhere, even in Tasha’s ears!  But with…

From two bestselling creators comes a lyrical and heartfelt picture book about a multiracial family’s trip to the beach that’s an ode to family, community, diversity, and—most importantly—fabulous beach hair!

When I wake up with the wildest bed head
and Mommy and Daddy do too
Mommy says we all…

Laban Carrick Hill (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Artist / Poet / Slave – 2014)

To us
it is just dirt,
the ground we walk on…
But to Dave
it was clay,
the plain and basic stuff
upon which he formed a life
as a…

Mary Hoffman (A) and Caroline Binch (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Family / Travel to Africa / Reunites with Father – 2000)

When Grace gets the opportunity to go to Gambia with her Grandmother and visit with her father and his new family, she feels a little strange. But Nana says families…

Junior Library Guild   election | Eureka! Excellence in Nonfiction Honor | CBC Best STEM Book List | Mathical Book Prize Honor | BCALA Youth Literary Nonfiction Award | Communication Arts Illustration Shortlist

Meet Jerry Lawson, the Black engineer who revolutionized the video game industry, in this engaging picture book biography perfect for fans…

Monica Brown (A) and Rafael Lopez (ILT) 

List Price: $15.95 (Hardcover – Famous Cuban Singer – 2004)

This bilingual book allows young readers to enter Celia Cruz’s life as she becomes a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba, then moves to New York City and Miami where she and others create a new…

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.

This joyous and loving celebration of family is…

Virginia Kroll (A) and Nancy Carpenter (ILT)

List Price: $8.99  (Paperback – East African / Friendship – 1997)

A young African-American girl living in urban America feels a kinship with the East African people, the Masai, whom she is studying in school. She ponders her life and makes comparisons to…

Award-winning picture book creator Frank Morrison makes his author/illustrator debut in an exuberant story about being yourself.

Epic has tricks you won’t believe. He’s the kick flipping, big rail king. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he can’t wait to hit the street with his skateboard. But his old moves don’t feel…

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture.

Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy.

It’s a story of…

From the #1 New York Times bestselling series comes the latest title in the Who HQ Now format for trending topics. It tells the history of a political and social movement that advocates for non-violent civil disobedience and protests against incidents of police brutality–and all racially…

From the Newberry Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again comes a shimmering picture book that shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary writer and story catcher extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature.

Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama…

From New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby, I Am the Spirit of Justice uses lyrical text and moving illustrations to take children on a journey through the history of the United States of America, highlighting the ways people have been fighting for justice from the very beginning.

The fight for civil rights in America…

Thea Feldman (A) and Alyssa Petersen (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback  – Biography / Mathematician  – 2017)

Get to know the woman who made many of NASA’s early missions possible in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series of biographies about people “you should meet!”

Meet Katherine Johnson, a brilliant…

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…

Adapted from one of Bob Marley most beloved songs, One Love brings the joyful spirit and unforgettable lyrics of his music to life for a new generation.

Readers will delight in dancing to the beat and feeling the positive groove of change when one girl enlists her community to help transform her neighborhood for…

Sharee Miller (A and ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – It’s About Hair and Personal Boundaries – 2019) 

An entertaining picture book that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair.

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…

Anna McQuinn (A) and Rosalind Beardshaw (ILT)

List Price $16.99 (Hardcover / Lola Series / Library / Reading – 2014)

Lola has a big smile on her face. Why? Because it’s Tuesday–and on Tuesdays, Lola and her mommy go to the library. Join Lola in this cozy celebration of books and the people…

Edwidge Danticat (A) and Shannon Whright

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Mother’s Loving Care – 2019)

My Mommy Medicine is a picture book about the comfort and love a mama offers when her child isn’t feeling well, from renowned author Edwidge Danticat.

Whenever I am sick,
Or just feel kind of gloomy or sad,
I…

Nikki Grimes (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Biography – African American History/President – 2008)

Ever since Barack Obama was young, Hope has lived inside him. From the beaches of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya, he has held…

Take a walk through Harlem’s Sugar Hill and meet all the amazing people who made this neighborhood legendary.

With upbeat rhyming, read-aloud text, Sugar Hill celebrates the Harlem neighborhood that successful African Americans first called home during the 1920s. Children raised in Sugar Hill not only looked up to these achievers but also experienced art…

Misty Copeland (A) and Christopher Myers (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Ballerina – 2014)

In her debut picture book, Misty Copeland tells the story of a young girl–an every girl–whose confidence is fragile and who is questioning her own ability to reach the heights that Misty has reached. Misty encourages this young…

Janay Brown Wood (A) and Hazel Mitchell (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Imagination and Greatness – 2014) 

Imani is a young Massai girl with a loving mother and a desire to do something great. When she decides she wants to touch the moon, she works hard to reach her goal,…

Ntozake Shange (A) and Kadir Nelson (A) and (ILT) 

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Family / Duke Ellington / Harlem Renaissance Legends – 2004)

In a reflective tribute to the African-American community of old, noted poet Ntozake Shange recalls her childhood home and the close-knit group of innovators that often gathered…

Joanna Ho (A) and Dung Ho (ILT)

 List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Multicultural Bilingual – 2021)

This lyrical, stunning picture book tells a story about learning to love and celebrate your Asian-shaped eyes, in the spirit of Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, and is a celebration of diversity.

A young…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)  

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American History / New Orleans / Congo Square – 2016)

This poetic, nonfiction story about a little-known piece of African American history captures a human’s capacity to find hope and joy in difficult circumstances and demonstrates how…

Gerald Mcdermott (A and ILT)

List Price:$9.99 (Paperback – Ashanti Tale – 1972) 

Anansi the Spider is one of the great folk heroes of the world. He is a rogue, a mischief-maker, and a wise, lovable creature who triumphs over larger foes.

Description: In this traditional Ashanti tale, Anansi sets out on a long,…

Shane Evans (A and ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback -Civil Rights / A  Family Prepare to March – 2016)

On August 28, 1963, a remarkable event took place–more than 250,000 people gathered in our nation’s capital to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march began at the Washington…

Kelly Cunnane (A) and Hoda Hadadi (ILT) 

List Price $8.99 (Paperback – An Islamic Story – 2018)

“Poetic language, attractive illustrations and a positive message about Islam, without any didacticism: a wonderful combination,” declares Kirkus Reviews in a starred review.

Lalla lives in the Muslim country of Mauritania, and more than…

Eloise Greenfield (A) and Leo and Diane Dillon (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Poetry – 1986)

Love don’t mean all that kissing
Like on television
Love Means Daddy
Saying keep your mama company till I get back
And me doing it

Sixteen poems tell of love and…

Bob Marley’s songs are known the world over for their powerful message of love, peace, and harmony. Now a whole new generation can discover one of his most joyous songs in this reassuring picture book adaptation written by his daughter Cedella and exuberantly illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton.

This upbeat story reminds children that the sun…

From Daniel Bernstrom, the acclaimed author of One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree, comes a charming and irresistibly fun picture book about a young blind girl and her grandmother who experience the vibrant everyday music of their busy city.

A young girl, filled with the…

Nikki Giovanni (A), Alicia Vergel de Dios (ILT), Damian Ward (ILT), Kristen Balouch (ILT), Jeremy Tugeau (ILT), Michele Noiset (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Book and CD / Poetry – 2008)

Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a celebration of poetry with a beat. It has both a book and CD…

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…

This remarkable picture book is a lyrical, inspirational exploration of growing up Black, written by award-winning illustrator Dapo Adeola, and brought to life by some of the most exciting Black artists of today.

Remember to dream your own dreams
   Love your beautiful…

Lesa Cline- Ransome (A) and James E. Ransome (ILT) 

List Price: $8.99 (Hardcover – Biography – African American Leader / Pioneer – 2019) 

Who was Harriet Tubman before she was Harriet?

Description: We know her today as Harriet Tubman, but in her lifetime she was called by many names. As General Tubman she…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

An endearing and empowering story that demonstrates that a learning difference like dyslexia doesn’t define who you are.

Despite her struggles with reading and writing, Beatrice is a natural and brilliant storyteller. With the help of a kind-hearted teacher, Beatrice uses an old-fashioned tape recorder so she can speak her words and then play…

Jonah Winter (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Supreme  Court Justice / Brilliant Lawyer – 2019)  

Thurgood Marshall–the first black justice on the Supreme Court and a giant of the civil rights movement–jumps to life in this inspiring picture-book biography from an award-winning author and six-time Coretta Scott…

Derrick Barnes (A) and Vanessa Newton Brantley (ILT) 

Lists Price:  $18.99 (Hardcover – Intro to Kindergarten – 2018) 

A confident little boy takes pride in his first day of kindergarten, by the Newberry Honor-winning author of Crown.

The morning sun blares through your window like a million brass trumpets.

It sits and shines behind…

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…