Top 150 recommended African American Children’s Books

African American children’s books

The above linked article talks about the top 150 African American children’s books. You know I will get to these, but not immediately. They are part of a series of diversity in children’s books, but I am having difficulty getting to the website with the full article.

1. A Hero Ain’t Nothin But a Sandwich by Alice Childress
2. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
3. A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan
4. A Weed Is a Flower : The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki
5. Afro-Bets 1-2-3 Book by Cheryl Willis Hudson
6. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
7. And the Sun God Said: That’s Hip by Ernest Gregg
8. Anna Carries Water by Olive Senior
9. As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
10. Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
11. Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume Three by Marguerite Abouet
12. Baby Says by John Steptoe
13. Bad News For Outlaws: The Remarkable Life Of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
14. Beautiful Moon by Tonya Bolden
15. Bird by Zetta Elliott
16. Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick McKissack
17. Black Mother Goose Book by Elizabeth Murphy Oliver
18. Black, White, Just Right! by Marguerite W. Davol
19. Book of Black Heroes from A to Z: An Introduction to Important Black Achievers for Young Readers by Wade Hudson
20. Boonoonoonous Hair by Olive Senior
21. Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson
22. Bronzeville Boys And Girls by Gwendolyn Brooks
23. Brothers In Hope by Mary Williams
24. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
25. Chike And The River by Chinua Achebe
26. Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs
27. Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
28. Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse
29. Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange
30. Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough
31. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
32. Daddy Calls Me Man by Angela Johnson
33. Daddy is a Monster … Sometimes by John Steptoe
34. Dancing In The Wings by Debbie Allen
35. Dave The Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill
36. Daydreamers by Eloise Greenfield
37. Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
38. Donavan’s Double Trouble by Monalisa DeGross
39. Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson
40. Everett Anderson’s Goodbye by Lucille Clifton
41. Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden
42. Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
43. Furqan’s First Flat Top – El Primer Corte de Mesita de Furqan by Robert Liu-Trujillo
44. Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
45. Grandma’s Records by Eric Velasquez
46. Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad? by Sandy Lynne Holman
47. Hair Dance! by Dinah Johnson
48. Harlem’s Little Blackbird by Renée Watson
49. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
50. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
51. Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, And True Tales by Virginia Hamilton
52. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
53. How the Leopard Got His Claws by Chinua Achebe
54. I Am Loved by Nikki Giovanni
55. I Am Mixed by Garcelle Beauvais
56. I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t by Leo & Diane Dillon
57. If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxane Orgill
58. In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage by Alan Schroeder
59. Jazz by Walter Dean Myers
60. Jazz Age Josephine: Dancer, singer—who’s that, who? Why, that’s MISS Josephine Baker, to you! by Jonah Winter
61. Jump Back, Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar
62. Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
63. Just an Overnight Guest by Eleanora E. Tate
64. Just Us Women by Jeannette Caines
65. Kevin And His Dad by Irene Smalls
66. Kids Book of Wisdom: Quotes from the African American Tradition by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson
67. Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
68. Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs, and Stories from an African American Childhood by Patricia C. Mckissack
69. Little Lion Goes to School by Kellie Magnus
70. Ludell by Brenda Wilkinson
71. Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist by Lesa Cline-Ransome
72. Make A Joyful Sound: Poems for Children by African-American Poets by Deborah Shink
73. Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up To Become Malcolm X by Ilyasah Al-Shabazz
74. March Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
75. March Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
76. Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl by Tonya Bolden
77. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport
78. Max and the Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper
79. Max Paints the House by Ken Wilson-Max
80. Me & Neesie (reillustrated) by Eloise Greenfield
81. Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia C. Mckissack
82. Molly, by Golly!: The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter by Dianne Ochiltree
83. Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
84. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
85. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
86. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe
87. My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete
88. My First Trip to Africa by Atlantis T. Browder
89. My Friend Maya Loves To Dance by Cheryl Willis Hudson
90. Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron
91. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
92. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
93. One Love by Cedella Marley
94. One Million Men And Me by Kelly Starling Lyons
95. One Word from Sophia by Jim Averbeck
96. Only Passing Through by Anne F. Rockwell
97. Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration Of Rosa, Barack, And The Pioneers Of Change by Michelle Cook
98. Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison
99. Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
100. Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Don Tate
101. Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes
102. Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia C. Mckissack
103. Rice & Rocks by Sandra L. Richards
104. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
105. Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan
106. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
107. She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story by Audrey Vernick
108. Shortcut by Donald Crews
109. Sing to the Moon by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl
110. Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams by Howard Bryant
111. Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
112. So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt
113. Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney
114. Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
115. Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Walter Dean Myers, Haki R. Madhubuti, Lucille Clifton and 8 others
116. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
117. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
118. The Adventures of Obi and Titi: The Hidden Temple of Ogiso (Book 1) by O.T. Begho
119. The Barber’s Cutting Edge by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert
120. The Blacker The Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas
121. The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington
122. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
123. The Great Migration: An American Story by Jacob Lawrence
124. The Great Migration: Journey To The North by Eloise Greenfield
125. The Little Piano Girl: The Story of Mary Lou Williams, Jazz Legend by Ann Ingalls
126. The Meanest Thing to Say by Bill Cosby
127. The Middle Passage: White Ships/ Black Cargo by Tom Feelings
128. The Negro Speaks Of Rivers by Langston Hughes
129. The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
130. The People Could Fly Picture Book by Virginia Hamilton
131. The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
132. The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou by Kristin Hunter
133. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy by Tony Medina
134. This Kid Can Fly: It’s about Ability (Not Disability) by Aaron Philip
135. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
136. Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen
137. To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
138. Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews
139. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford
140. We Came to America by Faith Ringgold
141. What Color Is My World?: The Lost History Of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld
142. Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
143. Whose Knees Are These? by Jabari Asim
144. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull
145. Wings by Christopher Myers
146. You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy
147. Young Cornrows Callin Out the Moon by Ruth Forman