AGES 4-8 / GRADES K-3

Traci Todd (A) and Christian Robinson (ILT)

List Price $18.99 (Hardwood – Singer / Pianist / Activist – Civil Rights – 2021)

This illuminating and defining picture book biography illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Christian Robinson, tells the story of little Eunice who grew up to become the acclaimed singer Nina Simone and her…

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan and Corretta Scott King Illustrator Honoree Laura Freeman team up in this moving ode to Duncan’s daughter that will resonate with mothers and daughters everywhere.

I will wrap my arms around you, so you will know comfort.
And when you’re ready to leave, I’ll be…

When happy things come to you, hold them close and never let go.

From celebrated author of Your Name Is a Song Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, fine artist Patrick Dougher, and photographer Jamel Shabazz, Hold Them Close is a picture book celebration of Black past, present, and future—a joyful…

Tonya Bolden (A) and Don Tate (ILT)

List Price: $18.39 (Hardcover – Farmer / Potato King – 2018)

Discover the incredible true story of how one of history’s most successful potato farmers began life as a slave and worked until he was named the “Potato King of the World”!

Junius G. Groves came from humble…

Peter H. Reynolds (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Family Dinner Table – 2021) 

Creative visionary of The Word Collector, Happy Dreamer, and The Dot, #1 New York Times bestseller Peter H. Reynolds creates a tender, lyrical story of multigenerational love, tradition, and family coming together with gratitude…

Public Domain, E.B.. Lewis (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Song / African American Spiritual – 2005)

A great visual interpretation of a a popular African-American spiritual. It is morning when the book opens, and readers are greeted by a smiling boy. Throughout the day, he spreads his own special…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) Eric Velasquez (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Black Library Pioneer and Historian – 2017) 

In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history.

Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.

Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and…

Barack Obama (A) and Loren Long (ILT)

List Price: $17.99  (Hardcover – President Obama Letter to His Daughters: Sasha and Malia – 2010)

In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the…

Nikki Giovanni (A) and Ashley Bryan (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Poetry / The Importance of Being Loved – 2018)

Newbery Award honoree Ashley Bryan has hand-selected a dozen of National Book Award winner Nikki Giovanni’s poems to illustrate with his inimitable flourish.

There is nothing more important to a child than to feel…

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…

Spike and Tonya Lewis Lee (A) Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Toddlers with Puppy – 2005)

In page after page of tail-wagging fun, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, Beacon Award-winning producer Tonya Lewis Lee, take a close-up look at what happens when a couple…

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

Lists Price:$18.99 (Hardcover – Intro to Kindergarten – 2022) 

Martin Luther King III (A) and AG Ford (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Son Remembers Father – 2013)

What was it like growing up as a son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? This picture book memoir, My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King III, provides…

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…

Before John Was A Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s: preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. These vivid noises shaped John’s own sound as a musician. Carole Boston…

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…

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…

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…

Nina is an energetic girl who loves gymnastics. 

It is her dream to become a gymnast. Everywhere Nina goes, she wants everyone to see her awesome gymnastics moves and she is NOT shy about it. Nina even helps her friends and family learn how to do gymnastics moves too. 

Dr. Winmilawe (A) and Tewodross Merchishua (ILT)

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Yoruba / Friendship / Character – 2012)

From the ancient stories of the West African Yoruba people comes the colorful children’s picture book “Obatala’s Daughter Discovers True Friends”. Obatala encourages his daughter Kemi to look for friends with good character.…

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.

Ilyasha Shabazz (A) and AG Ford (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – African American Leader / Civil Rights Era – 2014)

Malcolm X grew to be one of America’s most influential figures. But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision…

Princesses with curls wear pearls. Princesses with head wraps take long naps. And princesses with teeny-weeny Afros wear teeny-weeny bows.

Celebrate different hair shapes, textures, and styles in this self-affirming picture book! From dreadlocks to blowouts to braids, Princess Hair shines a spotlight on the beauty and diversity of black hair, showing young readers that…

Troy Andrews (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Musician Bio – 2015)

“Winner of both a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Award, this beautiful picture book for older kids is an inspirational look at overcoming our circumstances to follow our dreams, in this case that of a young musician…

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…

Ibtihaj Muhammad (A) and S.K. Ali Hatem Aly (ILT)  

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Siblings  / Faith and Courage – 2019)

A powerful, vibrantly illustrated story about the first day of school–and two sisters on one’s first day of hijab–by Olympic medalist…

Lupita Nyong’o (A) and Vashti Harrison (ILT) 

List Price: $17.95 (Hardcover – Self Love and Discovering Your Unique Beauty – 2019)

From Academy Award–winning actress Lupita Nyong’o comes a powerful, moving picture book about colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within.

Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker…

Take Diggs (A) and Shane W. Evans (ILT) 

List Price $18.99 ( Hardcover – Father and Son – 2018)

My Child

I am not always with you
as much as I’d like.

But you are always in my mind
and my heart.

Some families look different than others. A father…

Jenny Lombard (A)

List Price $7.99 (Paperback – Teen Fiction / Friendship / Ethnic Background – 2006)

Drita and her family come to New York as refugees from war-torn Kosovo. Even though she barely speaks English, Drita can’t wait to start school and make a new…

A moving tribute to the joy and grounding that fathers bring to their children’s lives.

What does a daddy do? From day one, this daddy speaks love to his little one. And along with that love, his words and actions speak many other things, too: like truth, joy, comfort,…

Brenda C. Roberts (A), Frank Morrison (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Dancing / Friends – 2004)

Jazzy Miz Mozetta is the winner of the 2005 Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe New Talent Award

One fine evening, Miz Mozetta puts on her firecracker-red dress and heads outside to enjoy the…

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…

This joyous and loving celebration of family is…

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…

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…

Jacqueline Woodson (A) and Leo Espinosa (ILT) 

List Price $18.99 (Hardcover – Brooklyn Kids at Play In The Streets – 2022)

Two children’s book superstars—#1 New York Times bestseller Jacqueline Woodson, the author of The Day You Begin, and Leo Espinosa,…

Kathleen Krull (A), Paul Brewer (A) and Frank Morrison (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover  Biography / Astro Physicist – 2018) 

★ An Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Year selection

A picture-book biography on science superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson, the groundbreaking American astrophysicist whose work has inspired a generation of young scientists and…

David Wisniewski (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – African King / Mali – 1999)

In the thirteenth century, Sundiata overcame physical handicaps, social disgrace, and strong opposition to rule the West African Sudanese trading empire of Mali. During his reign he established the territorial base of the empire and laid the…

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…

Irene Smalls (A) and Cathy Ann Johnson (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Relationships / Grandfather and Grandson / Bake A Cake – 2006)

A grandfather, Pop Pop, and his grandson transform baking a lemon cake into a magical time filled with sound, rhythm snd sction. Sniff sniff the lemon whiff / Peel…

Andrea Davis Pinkney (A) and Brian Pinkney (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / African American Leader / Abolitionist and Feminist – 2009)

A dynamic portrait of the freed slave whose physical and spiritual strength made her one of America most powerful abolitionist voices.

Synopsis:She was big. She was black. She was…

Virginia Hamilton (A) and Leo and Dianne Dillon (ILT)

List Price: $25.99 (Hardcover – African American Folktales / Fairy Tales – 1995)

Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

In the tradition of Hamilton’s The People Could Fly and In the Beginning, a dramatic new collection of 25 compelling tales…

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…

Sarah Weeks (A) and David Diaz (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Counting / Sheep – 2006)

Una oveja blanca. /
One white sheep.
ŒçAdií_s, oveja blanca! /
Good-bye, white sheep!

What do you do when you can’t sleep? Count sheep in Spanish and English, of course! But what happens when those rascally…

Gary D. Schmidt (A) and Daniel Minter (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Abolitionist/ Feminists / Leader – 2018)

From celebrated author Gary D. Schmidt comes a picture book biography of a giant in the struggle for civil rights, perfectly pitched for readers today.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and…

“Ida B. Wells is featured in this picture-book biography for another one of her passionate causes: women’s suffrage.” —Booklist

“A tribute to a tireless African American journalist and crusader for social justice​.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Johnson writes with the conviction of Ida B. Wells and her inherent beliefs about right and…

Carole Lindstrom (A) and Michaela Goade (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Native American/ Water Conservation – 2020)

Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal
New York Times Bestseller

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

Lora McClain-Muhammad (A) and Asia Lewis Ross (ILT) 

List Price: $10.00  (Paperback – Activity Book for Black Girls- 2019)

A children’s coloring book filled with all things Black Girl Magic from A to Z! The “I Need You To Know…” series depicts our children beautifully from their skin complexion to their hair type. The book…