If you can afford it, please buy these books through a black-owned bookstore.
This guide combines recommendations from several published reading lists (detailed at end of article) that promote diversity and racial equality. We included all of the books from these lists that we have available to borrow.
Adults may want to check out this Antiracism reading list for themselves, or this list of books by black women authors.
The age ranges included here are carried over from the original source. We recommend that you review everything first for age-appropriateness when deciding what is appropriate for your child.
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (age 13+)
- Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (age 9+)
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (age 15+)
- Black Boy by Richard Wright (age 14+)
- The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (age 12+)
- Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (age 9+)
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker (age 15+)
- Choosing Up Sides by John H. Ritter
- Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose (age 13+)
- The Colors Of Us by Karen Katz
- Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (ages 4–8)
- The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (age 9+)
- Crow by Barbara Wright (age 10+)
- Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill (age 6+)
- Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (age 9+)
- The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and students
- Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine (age 5+)
- If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth (age 12+)
- Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (age 10+)
- Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (age 9+)
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (age 9+)
- March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (age 12+)
- The Mitten Tree by Kim Carlson
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers (age 13+)
- My People by Langston Hughes (age 5+)
- The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes (age 6+)
- November Blues by Sharon M. Draper (age 13+)
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (age 11+)
- P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia (age 9+)
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (age 11+)
- Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier (ages 4–8)
- Smoky Night by Eve and David Diaz
- The Snowy Day, A Letter to Amy, Hi, Cat!, and Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats (ages 0-3)
- Sounder by William H. Armstrong (age 12+)
- The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales (age 12+)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (age 12+)
- Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt (age 14+)
- Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner and Richard Rudnicki (ages 5–9)
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (age 9+)
- What is Death? by Etan Borizer
- What is Love? by Etan Boritzer
- Why? by Popov, Nikolai. Michael Neugebauer
The following reading lists were used to compile this guide, and contain more resources than are listed here:
- Equality and Anti-Racism Book List by The Advocates for Human Rights
- 31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance by EmbraceRace.org
- These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids by Jessica Grose at the New York Times
- Books About Racism and Social Justice by Common Sense Media
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners by Common Sense Media
- Award-Winning African American Books by Common Sense Media