Lists of Books

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.  The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.   First presented in 1970, here's a complete list of award recipients.

Common Sense Media offers guides to the more recent winners with a list that contains books for children by age (preschoolers, little kids (5-7), big kids (8-9), tweens (10-12), and teens (13+).  If you click the green “Continue reading” button below a title, you'll go to a page that tells parents what to expect from the book. You'll find a brief summary of the book, a section titled “What parents need to know” which discusses things that may be difficult for children such as a violent event in the story or poverty or colorism within a family.  You'll also find ratings on such things as the educational value, positive messages, positive role models and representations, sex, violence, language, consumerism, and substance use/abuse. A section titled “Talk to your kids about…” provides some ideas for discussions to have with your kids to help them process the stories. 

The Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT)  of the American Library Association offers discussion guides organized by the year the book was published for each winning title from 2009 -- now.  This same site also includes resources from the publishers of some of the books. 

The Black Experience is an annotated booklist curated by Shannan Hicks, Director of Library Services, William F. Laman Public Library System, North Little Rock, Arkansas. This Google Sheets based list is regularly updated and includes both fiction and non-fiction. (Note: there is a tab for Adults and a tab for Children's/Young Adult) 

Bibliography for Schools  -- this resource includes Picture Books that Celebrate #Blackjoy by Vanessa Whilloughby,  Middle and YA Novels that Celebrate #Blackjoy by Desiree Thomas, Nonfiction  K-5, Nonfiction Middle School through Young Adult,  Poetry K - 12, and Biography K-12. Created for FORR by Carolyn Lynch, FORR volunteer and School Librarian at Elkhorn Elementary School in Frankfort, Kentucky.   This Google based resource will expand over time. 

From Social Justice Books: A Teaching for Change Project, here are more than 60 carefully selected  book lists of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. 

The mission of Black Children’s Books and Authors (BCBA)  is to promote awareness of children’s and young adult literature by Black authors. Our online author directory lists traditional and self-published authors. Whether you are a student, parent, educator, librarian, or avid reader, this resource is for you to expand your knowledge of Black children’s authors and the stories they write.  This site also contains links to important articles about race and children’s books, some blogs that include booklists, and more.

20 Picture Books for 2020: Readings to Embrace Race, Provide Solace & Do Good by Autumn Allen, Krista Aronson and the Diverse BookFinder Team, and Megan Dowd Lambert. This list was created specifically with the turbulence of 2020 in mind - the racial injustice and uprising as well as the disproportionate effects of covid-19 on Black and brown communities. Parents and other caregivers are seeking resources to help them hold children through the current, terrible wave of racialized violence, which is exacerbated by the tensions and vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As scholars, writers, and parents who use books to connect with our children and spark conversations with them, we’ve developed this book list to help engage the broad range of emotions and needs of diverse children in our multiracial society.

Black Joy Booklist for Children and Young Adults by Alia Jones, Senior Library Services Assistant, Downtown Main Library, Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library System, Cincinnati, Ohio. Alia Jones writes, "Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop speaks of 'windows, mirrors & sliding glass doors' in children’s literature; it’s critical that children grow up seeing themselves reflected in the books they read, starting in infancy. I've highlighted some books in our Library collection that affirm Black childhood and encourage Black youth to dream, speak up, and get started on the path towards liberation."  Click on each book to be led to a page that includes a description of the book, reviews of the book from several standard library reviewing sources, and comments from readers. 

The We Are Kid Lit Collective creates lists of books that reflect the principles of social justice, equity, and inclusion; focus on Indigeneous and People of Color; and that we would be comfortable to put in any child’s hands. You’ll find summer reading lists from 2015 – now. 

Race and Racism: Selected Books for Pre-K to Grade 12  by The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, School of Education.  When choosing books about race and racism and its impact on the lives of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), we have emphasized books by BIPOC creators. We have also included several books by white authors that can especially help white readers, develop an awareness of whiteness and white privilege. This list features books set in the past and books set in the present day: Understanding history is critical to understanding racism; it is also critical to acknowledge and discuss the realities of racism and the ongoing legacy of systemic racism today.

Black Experiences: Affirmation and  Resilience,  Activism and Resistance in 45 Books for PreK-Grade 12. A book list from The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, School of Education.  Most of the books for this list are among titles we’ve recommended for our annual best-of-the-year list, CCBC Choices. It is far from exhaustive; there are many other books we’ve recommended, and many other books available for children and teens acknowledging that Black Lives Matter by celebrating and affirming Black identity and speaking the truth of Black experiences. 

The Children's Peace Education & Anti-Bias Library   The Peace Education Project provides a  list of specially selected anti-bias books to teach peacemaking with young children between one and six years of age.  A data base on this site helps you narrow your search. 

The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Their flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators. During the twenty-eight days of Black History Month, The Brown Bookshelf profiles a different children’s or young adult author or children’s illustrator, looking for the best new and unnoticed works by African-Americans. From picture books to novels, books fresh off the presses to those that have lurked in the background unsung for months or years. Each day features interviews with the author about their work  and inlcudes a focus on a specific book.  At the bottom of the  28 Days Later page  you'll find links to all the campaigns from 2008 -- now.

 Diverse Bookfinder  aspires to be a go-to resource for librarians, educators, parents, book creators, and publishers who seek to create collections in which all children can see themselves -- and each other -- reflected in the picture books they read. 

• To inform the diverse books movement by providing data and translating research so that it is accessible and useful.
• To move the diverse books discussion beyond a focus on increasing the number of books to a deeper consideration of how Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) are represented within diverse books.
• To identify dominant trends in representations of BIPOC by exploring who (which racial/cultural groups) is represented in current diverse picture books and how (what messages are being sent).

 This article  begins with a link to "8 tips for choosing 'good' picture books featuring Black and Indigenous People, and People of Color" and then Embrace Race identifies promising starting points, in addition to the Diverse BookFinder, for your search for children’s books to which you might apply the criteria described in 8 tips.  The blogs and sites included by no means exhaust the list of sites that highlight excellent children’s books. Nor do all the books featured on those sites meet each of the 8 tips criteria. However, a search that begins with the sites on this list is likely to bear quality fruit!

Diversity Resources is an annotated list of content and critical review resources that seek authentic diversity in literature for children and young adults. List created by: The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, School of Education. 

Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books by Louise Derman-Sparks.  Depending on the quality of the book, they can reinforce (or undermine) children’s affirmative self-concept, teach accurate (or misleading) information about people of various identities, and foster positive (or negative) attitudes about diversity. Children’s books teach children about who is important, who matters, who is even visible. Consequently, carefully choosing quality children’s books is an indispensable educational and child-rearing task. 

Children’s Books By Brilliant Black Women by Ashaia. This guide includes information on evaluating books for children, explains how the white gaze impacts how books handle topics, and talks about the importance of accurate representation. And yes, there’s a booklist of recommended books with evaluative comments.  From The Student Ignition Society: Radically inclusive educators for early childhood.

The Spectrum for Multicultural Literature, created by Kaitlin Kamalei Brandon (2017) ensures that multicultural literature is used to its greatest extent to cultivate crosscultural empathy and cultural empowerment in our students. Colorful Pages aims to post book reviews, teaching resources, lesson plans, and general articles to support others in this mission.