Books for preschoolers through middle graders honor black history and ethnic diversity

Show your kids the meaning of Black History Month with children’s books whose pictures and words highlight the history, people and events that inspired February’s month-long celebration. From picture books to chapter books and up, these books for preschoolers through middle-graders not only honor black history but also cultural and ethnic diversity.

Ages 4 – 8          

• The Other Side, by Jacqueline Woodson

• I am Enough, by Grace Byers and Keturah A. Bobo 

• Before She Was Harriet, by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome 

• Mae Among the Stars, by Roda Ahmed and Stasia Burrington 

• I, Too, Am America, by Langston Hughes 

• Rosa Parks, by Nikki Giovanni 

• Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles 

• Minty, by Alan Schroeder 

• Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, By Ellen Levine 

• This Jazz Man, by Karen Ehrhardt 

• Follow the Drinking Gourd, by Jeanette Winter 

• Teammates, by Peter Golenbock

READ MORE: Libraries in the Hudson Valley

Ages 8 – 12

• Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History, by Vashti Harrison and Kwesi Johnson 

• 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World, by Charles R. Smith Jr. and Shane W. Evans 

• Bedtime Inspirational Stories: 50 Amazing Black People Who Changed the World (Volume 1), by L. A. Amber 

• A Child's Introduction to African American History: The Experiences, People, and Events That Shaped Our Country (A Child's Introduction Series), by Jabari Asim and Lynn Gaines 

• Skin Like Mine (Kids Like Mine), by LaTashia M. Perry 

• Look What Brown Can Do!, by T. Marie Harris 

• I Have a Dream, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

• Baby Flo, by Alan Schroeder 

• Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport

• What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld 

• Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas, by Gwendolyn Hooks

Ages 12 and up