During the month of February, it is a time to celebrate, honor and remember the achievements, contributions, and accomplishments of black Americans in history and culture. Not only do we want to highlight books about famous African Americans who have contributed .our history, but we also want to highlight books by African American authors, as well as books about self-love. Check out our list below of our favorite books, that would be the perfect
Let The Children March
In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hate, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world. Frank Morrison’s emotive oil-on-canvas paintings bring this historical event to life, while Monica Clark-Robinson’s moving and poetic words document this remarkable time.
Brown Boy Brown Boy What Can You Be?
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
Little Leaders: Bold Women In Black History
Meet 40 trailblazing women who broke barriers of race and gender to pave the way for future generations. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History is important, timely, and written in a style that kids will enjoy.
Bedtime Inspirational Stories: 50 Amazing Black People Who Changed the World (Volume 1)
Look What Brown Can Do!
100 Things Every Black Girl Should Know: For Girls 10-100
Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present
Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X
Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas
Mae Among The Stars
A great classroom and bedtime read-aloud, Mae Among the Stars is the perfect book for young readers who have big dreams and even bigger hearts!
When Little Mae was a child, she dreamed of dancing in space. She imagined herself surrounded by billions of stars, floating, gliding, and discovering.
She wanted to be an astronaut.
Her mom told her, “If you believe it, and work hard for it, anything is possible.”
Little Mae’s curiosity, intelligence, and determination, matched with her parents’ encouraging words, paved the way for her incredible success at NASA as the first African American woman to travel in space.
This book will inspire other young girls to reach for the stars, to aspire for the impossible, and to persist with childlike imagination.
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee!
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books)
Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
Juneteenth for Mazie
Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history ― the day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.
Child of the Civil Rights Movement
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters
Hair Like Mine (Kids Like Mine)
Hair Like Mine is a fun and easy read following a little girl who doesn’t like that her naturally curly hair looks different from the other kids around her. On her quest to find someone with hair like hers, she soon realizes we are all unique and special in our own way.
Curlilocks and the Big Bad Hairbrush
Emi’s Curly Coily, Cotton Candy Hair
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me
Mirror, Mirror. Who Am I?: A Book of Affirmation for Black and Brown Girls
“You are beautiful. You are smart. You are a leader. You are you and that is exactly who God created you to be.” “Mirror, Mirror. Who Am I?” is an affirmation book created for young girls of color to appreciate the person they were birthed to be. The way we see ourselves, often times, is a mirror of the things we were told about ourselves. The way we feel about ourselves and the way we treat other people. This book is designed to deposit positivity and esteem into our daughters. By showing them their beauty, giving them their inner voice and imparting them with wisdom they will never forget. For they are all wonderfully and fearfully made in the image of God, they just don’t know it yet. Until now… Mirror, Mirror. Who Am I? You are you, and that’s exactly who God created you to be.
Firebird
In her debut picture book, Misty Copeland tells the story of a young girl–an every girl–whose confidence is fragile and who is questioning her own ability to reach the heights that Misty has reached. Misty encourages this young girl’s faith in herself and shows her exactly how, through hard work and dedication, she too can become Firebird.
Lyrical and affecting text paired with bold, striking illustrations that are some of Caldecott Honoree Christopher Myers’s best work, makes Firebird perfect for aspiring ballerinas everywhere.
The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop
The roots of rap and the history of hip-hop have origins that precede DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Kids will learn about how it evolved from folktales, spirituals, and poetry, to the showmanship of James Brown, to the culture of graffiti art and break dancing that formed around the art form and gave birth to the musical artists we know today. Written in lyrical rhythm by award-winning author and poet Carole Boston Weatherford and complete with flowing, vibrant illustrations by Frank Morrison, this book beautifully illustrates how hip-hop is a language spoken the whole world ’round, it and features a
Honeysmoke: A Story of Finding Your Color
A young biracial girl looks around her world for her color. She finally chooses her own, and creates a new word for herself―honeysmoke.
Simone wants a color.
She asks Mama, “Am I black or white?”
“Boo,” Mama says, just like mamas do, “a color is just a word.”
She asks Daddy, “Am I black or white?”
“Well,” Daddy says, just like daddies do, “you’re a little bit of both.”
For multiracial children, and all children everywhere, this picture book offers a universal message that empowers young people to create their own self-identity.
Simone knows her color―she is honeysmoke.
Full, Full, Full of Love
For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner
at Grannie’s can be full indeed – full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of.
Love of impromptu dance parties, 80’s cartoons, and horizontal life pauses (aka naps); Natasha Brown is a stay at home mom of 4 kids, and wife to one lucky guy! In her spare time, she is co-editor of Grits & Grace, as well as editor for The Mother Hustler Blog and Creative Director for the Mother Hustler podcast.
