In 2019, a Sesame Street workshop found that 63% of parents say they never or rarely talk about their family’s race or ethnicity with their children. Children’s books are the most effective tool to engage your little ones about important issues. As our country faces turmoil and uncertainty about how to move forward, many parents are wondering how to have a conversation with their kids about race and racism. Books are a great place to start.
To encourage conversations about race and diversity here some books for you to read together as a family.
Birth to 3
- Ezra Jack Keats, “The Snowy Day, “A Letter to Amy,” “Hi, Cat,” “Whistle for Willie”
- Oge Mora, “Saturday”
- Vashanti Harrison, “Dream Big, Little One”
- Alexandra Penfold, “All Are Welcome”
- Michael Tyler, “The Skin You Live In”
- Chana Ginelle Ewing, “An ABC of Equality”
Ages 3-5
- Matthew A. Cherry, “Hair Love”
- Yuyi Morales, “Dreamers”
- Yangsook Choi, “The Name Jar”
- Lupita Nyong’o, “Sulwe”
- Karen Katz, “The Colors of Us”
- Julius Lester, “Let’s Talk About Race”
- Anastasia Higginbotham, “Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness”
- Marianne Celano PhD, Marietta Collins PhD and Ann Hazzard PhD, “Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice”
- Grace Byers, “I Am Enough”
- LaTashia M. Perry, “Skin Like Mine”
Ages 5-8
- Boa Phi and Thi Bui, “A Different Pond”
- Jacqueline Woodson, “The Day You Begin”
- Cynthia Levinson, “The Youngest Marcher”
- Reem Faruqi and Lea Lyon, “Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story”
- Kwame Alexander, “The Undefeated”
- Andrea Davis Pinkney, “Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters”
- Deborah Mills, Alfredo Alva, and Claudia Navarro, “La Frontera: El Viaje Con Papá/My Journey with Papa”
- Marissa Moss and Carl Angel, “Sky High: A True Story of Maggie Gee”
- Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race”
- Meg Medina and Angela Dominguez, “Mango, Abuela, and Me”
Ages 9-12
- Pam Muñoz Ryan,“Esperanza Rising”
- Aslan Tudor and Kelly Tudor, “Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock”
- John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, “March”
- Ibi Zoboi, “Black Enough”
- Jenny Lombard, “Drita My Home Girl”
- Thanhha Lai, “Inside Out and Back Again”
- Jewell Parker Rhodes, “Ghost Boys”
- Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, “We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices”
- Jelani Memory, “A Kids Book About Racism”
- Rita Williams-Garcia, “One Crazy Summer“
Young Adult
- Angie Thomas, “The Hate U Give”
- Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, “All American Boys”
- Randa Abdel-Fattah, “The Lines We Cross”
- Nic Stone, “Dear Martin”
- Christina Hammonds Reed, “The Black Kids”
- Trevor Noah, “Born a Crime” (Adapted for Young Readers)
- Tiffany Jewell and Aurelia Durand, “This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work”
- Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix”
- Jelani Memory, “The Good Kind of Trouble”
In the comments below, share with us your favorite children’s books that highlight race and diversity!
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