13 Black History Month Picture Books for Kids

1

I met my biological father for the first time at 18 and spent a year living with him in San Francisco, California. I had grown up in a white household, in a predominantly white New England neighborhood, and spent my entire childhood not knowing my black heritage.

On an afternoon sightseeing around Fisherman’s Wharf, we found ourselves stepping into an Otis elevator where my dad casually asked me what I knew about elevators. Being 18, I chalked it up to it just being a weird dad thing as he told me some random trivia about Alexander Miles, the African American inventor of the automatic elevator door.

It wasn’t until after he passed away in 2005 that I realized my dad was trying to make up for missing out on these teachable moments during my childhood. (In his defense, he was unaware I even existed until I was about 16 years old.)

As I approach my mid-forties, I’m forging an attachment to my black experience in a very different way than I had before. Black America has its own culture and as a mixed-race woman, I’ve learned that if you are not immersed in that culture you can easily be left out of certain experiences.

What I want for my own mixed-race children is that experience. While I can’t personally give them what I didn’t myself experience, I can, through art and literature, expose them to a variety of cultures. I hope that is something all parents, of all races, do for their children too.

One way to do this is by choosing books that feature African American people, their lives, and their experiences. To celebrate Black History Month, here are a few titles to get you started toward what I hope becomes a bookshelf brimming with diversity and inclusion.

black history month books for kidsMake Black History Relevant for All Children

The most important books on our bookshelf right now are the first two listed below, because they are the most representative of our family.

1. The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko gently introduces the fight for interracial marriage to children in an age-appropriate way.

2. Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff has illustration that depicts our family perfectly. It points out the differences between mom and dad’s skin color, and how the biracial child is a unique blend of both.

A great way to introduce Black History Month to children of every race is to seek out books about African Americans that relate to a topic of interest for your child. For example, if your child takes ballet lessons and loves all things ballerina . . .

3. Firebird, Misty Copeland’s autobiographical picture book, would be a good place to start. Copeland writes about being an ordinary girl struggling with self-acceptance and her dreams of becoming a prima ballerina.

4. Windflyers by Angela Johnson tells the story, through the eyes of a great-great-grandson, of a Tuskeegee Wind Flyer who served in World War II. This is perfect for a child with an interest in airplanes and all things flight. Note: Did you know there’s a Tuskeegee Airmen Memorial in Walterboro, SC and you can learn more about their contributions at the Colleton Museum?

5. Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden explains how a brave woman overcomes the hardships and prejudices of her early life to become the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license.

6. Hidden Figures from Margot Lee Shetterly, recounts how four math geniuses play an essential role in some of NASA’s greatest successes.

Go Beyond the Basics of Black History

If I had one complaint about how Black History is approached in mainstream education, it would be this: I am tired of hearing the same names over and over.

While the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman should be celebrated, their accomplishments and influence encompass more than just soundbites on television or mere captions in a chapter.

7. Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome focuses on the many names Harriet Tubman was known by: General Tubman, a Union Spy, Moses leading hundreds to freedom on the Underground Railroad, and Minty, an enslaved African American with an unbreakable spirit.

8. An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glenette Tilly-Turner also gives evidence of that spirit. Like other enslaved African Americans, Tubman had to work hard in an orchard where she spent long hours picking apples that she was never allowed to taste.

9. Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis by Robbin Gourley tells of Lewis who became a famous chef, known for her cookbooks and fresh, Southern cooking.

10. Let The Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson is a moving account of a real historical event. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. thousands of African American children marched for their civil rights. They faced fear, hate, and danger and used their voices to change the world because their parents feared losing their jobs by marching; the children marched in their place.

11. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History is an adorably illustrated book on our shelf by Vashti Harrison. The book offers one-page biographies and sweet illustrations of 40 black women who changed the world, like politician Shirley Chisholm and abolitionist Sojourner Truth.

12. A Child’s Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim follows the slave trade to the Civil Rights era and introduces trailblazers in politics, activism, entertainment, music, and more as well as a removable historical timeline.

Discuss Lesser-Known Black History

The Harlem Renaissance refers to the artistic explosion that resulted from the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City from 1910 to the mid-1930s. The period is considered a golden age in African American culture with literature, music, stage performance, and art at the forefront.

During this time, an Afro-Puerto Rican law clerk named Arturo Schomburg collected books, letters, music, and art from Africa. He then curated that collection at the New York Public Library. His collection is now known as the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture and is world-renowned.

13. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford is a retelling of Schomburg’s story.

The Bigger Story in Black History

As a biracial child without access to black culture or Black History as a whole, and having not met my biological African American father until I was 18 years old, I have had a lifetime of self-discovery to unpack.

I wouldn’t realize until I became a mother of mixed-race children myself, how being the only black child in a classroom of white faces would shape the adult I would become. As we’ve grown in awareness, more “woke” than we were when I was a child in the 80s, it’s evident that the importance of teaching Black History goes far beyond learning history for history’s sake.

I know that as a child, had I seen more little girls that looked like me on the covers of my books, I would have felt differently about myself and other POC. I likely wouldn’t have, at the age of nine, tried to narrow the shape of my nose with a clothespin (embarrassingly sad but true story), nor would I have felt uncomfortable and squirmy, feeling as though all eyes were on me — the lone black kid sitting in my Social Studies class — as the teacher talked about The Underground Railroad.

My hope for Black History month and beyond is that families begin to choose or continue to choose books that feature people of color.

While a significant variety of races and ethnicities represented in literature and art in every home is the goal, we need to start somewhere. Making an effort to add titles to your home library that feature the experiences of black men and women is a great start.

What are some of your favorite children’s picture books that highlight the Black Experience in America? Drop your favorites in the comments below!

Previous article4 Ways to Help Your Kids Alleviate Their Fear of the Dentist
Next articleThe Grocery List (For Him) & A Free Printable!
Marie Bentley
Marie is a freelance writer and homeschooling mom of four – three adult kids and an 11-year-old  – who, for the last 16 years has made the Lowcountry her home. While her family spends a large portion of the year traveling throughout the country, she's actually quite the homebody. When she's not writing – something she's been doing for almost 30 years– Marie loves getting out and about in Charleston, weaving local history into her youngest' homeschool lessons, and exploring the many resources, sites, museums, and landscapes SC has to offer. One of Marie's bucket list items is to visit/hike each of the 47 state parks. Will this be the year she completes the goal? Marie chronicles all of it on her homeschool blog and YouTube channel.

1 COMMENT

  1. I love your suggestions. You gave very detailed reasons why these books should be considered for your Black History Month reading list. And I loved hearing about your background story. Thanks for sharing it. I’m going to add that Tuskegee Airmen book to my list. I’ll also keep the musuem in mind next time we come up to SC.

Comments are closed.