Deloris Jordan (A) and Barry Root (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Sports / Basketball – 2014)

Olympic dreams come true in this inspiring picture book from Michael Jordan’s mother, author of the New York Times bestselling Salt in His Shoes.

Long before he became a professional All-Star basketball player, Michael Jordan had dreams of winning an…

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…

Michelle Cook (A) and the following Contributing Illustrators: A.G. Ford, Bryan Collier, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Cozbi Cabrera, Diane Dillon, E.B. Lewis, Eric Velasquez, Frank Morrison, James Ransome, Leo Dillon, Pat Cummings, R. Gregory Christie, Shadra, E. B. Lewis, Marian Wright Edelman (Introduction)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback -Highlights11 African American Achievers…

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

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sport / Baseball – 2005)

This book examines the life of the legendary baseball player, who was the first African-American to pitch in a Major League World Series. Some say Leroy Paige was born six…

Ramona Thomas Nickens (A) and Tammy Artis (ILT)

List Price: $12.00 (Softcover – Social Situation / Nutrition – 2011)

Little Kyndle has an ear infection so his Mommy takes him to see the family doctor. At Doctor Wizmagic office she mixes up some magical potion to cure patients and puts it…

Jeron Ashford Frame (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Social Situation / Family / Feelings and Emotions / Colors – 2007)

A young boy ponders a variety of emotions and expresses how different members of his family experience them, from his own blues to…

Matt de a Pena (A) and Kadir Nelson (Ilt) 

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sports Boxing – 2013)

National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine teams up with Keith Henry Brown on this lyrical picture book that celebrates music and Black identity.

Trevor’s dad is a DJ, and he always picks the best music—
tunes jivin’, beat drivin’, high fivin’!
—he’s DJ Dap Daddy!

But after his parents split up…

William Kamkwamba (A), Bryan Mealer (A) and Elizabeth Zunon (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Ingenuity /African Village / Making A Windmill / Believing In Self – 2012

When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba’s Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone’s crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William…

Tiki Barber (A) and Ronde Barber (A) and Barry Root (Ilt)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Sports – Football – 2004)

Based on the childhood of NFL superstar twins Tiki and Ronde Barber both spokes people for Verizon Reads, a national program to promote literacy – this inspiring story, written along…

Wade Hudson (A) and George Ford (ILT)

List Price: $9.95 (Paperback – Family / Attending School – 1991)

Jamal is a happy youngster who knows just how important his school day is. It is just as important as his mother and father work day. Jamal…

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…

Derrick Barnes (A) and Gordon C.James (ILT)

List Price: $18.95 (Hardcover – / Boys Hair Style / Hair Care / Self-Esteem – 2017) 

A Newbery Honor Book
A Caldecott Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
An Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Book

…

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…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Eric Velasquez (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Explorer / North Pole – 2007)

Matthew Henson was not meant to lead an ordinary life. His dreams had sails. They took him from the port of Baltimore, around the world, and north to the pole. No amount of fear,…

Suzy Capozi (A) and Eren Unten (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Level 2 / Science Project – 2018)

When his teacher announces that there will be a science fair in a few weeks, the young boy in I Am Smart is worried. He doesn’t like science. Science is hard! But when his mom…

For fans of Matt de la Pena and Grace Byers, My Afro Is a Rising Sun is a dazzling picture book inviting BIPOC children to fully express themselves, celebrate their Blackness, and embrace their ancestry. 

Black afros are more than just afros. They are a symbol of Black joy. They remind us to…

Tami Charles (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – An Affirmation of Worth – 2020)

Instant New York Times bestseller!

A lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and brown children everywhere: reminding them how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always…

What makes a great juice that keeps everyone healthy? Art and his dad discover it takes carrots … collards … cayenne … and community!

When Art’s father can’t get over a cold, Art knows exactly what his daddy needs: some delicious sick-fighting juice! After looking through the fridge and cupboards,…

Peter H. Reynolds (A and ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Imagination / Word Power / Expression – 2018)

Some people collect stamps.

Some people collect coins.

Some people collect art.

And Jerome?

Jerome collected words . . . 

In this extraordinary new tale from Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome discovers the magic of…

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.

…

A young child learns that even superheroes hurt too in this heartrending story about loss and love, written by debut author Kevin Johnson and illustrated by #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Kitt Thomas.

When a child loses the person in his life that he loves more than anything, he uses his cape as protection…

Daniel Beaty (A) Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – A Son Dreams and Remembers His Father – 2013)

Every morning, I play a game with my father  He goes knock knock on my door and I pretend to be asleep till he gets right next to the bed.   And my papa,…

Peter Golenbock (A) and Paul Lee (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sports / Baseball – 2005)

This is a true story about one of baseballs most heroic superstars who is best known for beating Babe Ruth’s record. Later he was admitted into Baseballs elite…

Celebrate Remarkable Moments in Black History with this Uplifting Story

Inspire Black boys to imagine all the great things they can do while celebrating remarkable moments from Black history!

Dear boy, Black boy, I believe in you so.

Let’s start your story—ready, set, go.

From athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick to…

An intergenerational story about a nonbinary child who learns the tradition of well digging in this picture book about community, hope, and protecting the Earth’s water.

As soon as Kit’s old enough to ride in Grandpa’s truck, they begin joining him to dig wells for their community. Grandpa is magic. He can feel the weather…

Phil Bildner (A) and John Holyfield (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – African American History/Aviation – 2010)

The extraordinary story of James Banning, the first African-American pilot to fly across country

During the Great Depression, the ace black pilot James Banning decided to fly from coast to coast to serve as an…

Natasha Tarpley (A) and E.B. Lewis (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – African American Boys / Hair Care / Pride and Self Esteem- 2009)

In this companion book to the bestselling I Love My Hair!, a young boy, Miles, makes his first trip to the barbershop with his…

Susan Verde (A) and Peter Reynolds (ILT)

List Price: $14.99 ( Hardcover – Teaches Empathy and Compassion -2018)

From the picture book dream team behind I Am Yoga and I Am Peace comes the third book in their wellness series: I Am Human. A hopeful meditation on all the great (and challenging) parts…

The bestselling illustrator of I Am Enough brings to life the story of a boy whose mirror gives him a whole new way of seeing himself.

Chris loves his long, curly hair, so why do his classmates tease him about it? When he looks for answers in his mirror, something wonderfully wild and…

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…

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…

Useni Eugene Perkins (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Identity / Celebrating Identity – Self Esteem – 2017)

Six-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and four-time Caldecott Honor recipient Bryan Collier brings this classic, inspirational poem to life, written by poet Useni Eugene Perkins.

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…

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…

Courtney Carbone (A) and Hilli Kushnir (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Dealing With Feelings / Sadness – 2018)

If feeling blue isn’t bad enough, it’s even worse without your best furry friend. This Makes Me Sad follows a young boy after he accidentally lets his dog, Kit, loose from the yard. Despite his parents’ attempt to…

Rachel Isadora (A and ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback / South Africa / Children’s Love for their Fathers – 1994)

The children of a South African village eagerly gather at the crossroads to welcome their fathers, who have been away for months working in the mines. The children wait, but the men don’t…

Javaka Steptoe (A)

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

From critically acclaimed artist Elizabeth Zunon, a picture book about one boy on a journey to deliver salt across the desert-a journey that will reveal the precious rock’s true value.

In the Sahara, salt is worth its weight in gold. When Malik is finally old enough to…

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…

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…

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…

Tolowa M. Mollel (A) and E. B. Lewis (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Tanzania / Thoughtful Child – 1999)

“I emptied my secret money box, arranged the coins in piles and the piles in rows . . .” The market is full of wonderful things, but Saruni is saving his precious coins…

Eve Bunting (A) and James Ransome (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Gang Situation / Brothers / Peer Pressure – 1998)

When ten-year-old James gang initiation endangers his six-year-old brother Isaac, they find the courage to say, Thanks, but no thanks. One night while their mom’s at work, ten-year-old James…

Nikki Grimes (A) and Jerome LaGarrique (ILT)

List Price: $7.99  (Paperback – Poetry / Friendship / Mentor – 1999)

In 14 knowing, heartfelt poems, Nikki Grimes invites readers to witness the friendship that blossoms between Damon, an African-American boy without a father, and Blue, a tough-looking man who has lost…

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…