In honor of Black History Month, we are featuring books for kids and young adults written by Black authors. We found a terrific link created by teachers that features 28 books for children written by Black authors. We selected several books to feature, but we urge you to click on the link and check out all the books. Enjoy!
Hair Love by Matthew L. Cherry – Matthew Cheery is a former NFL player. He is currently a filmmaker, director, and author. Kids will enjoy this touching story of a father learning to style his daughter’s hair. For ages 2-7
The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson - Woodson is the bestselling author of Brown Girl Dreaming. From 2015 – 2017, she served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate, and for 2018-2019, she was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. On a rainy day, a brother and sister take their grandmother’s advice and use their imagination to fly. The children learn to use this new power to fly away from petty arguments and find the joy of the moment. Grandmother’s advice comes from her ancestors who used their imaginations to picture freedom. For ages 3-8
Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Bingham – Bingham is a skilled cook and a U.S. Army disabled veteran. She loves soul food. This book is about a big family getting together every Sunday for a meal to share their culture and the foods they love. For ages 4-8
Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes – Grimes is a bestselling author and poet. She is the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award and the Golden Dolphin Award. It’s time for bed. Mom and dad want to make bathtime fun for their children, so mom creates a magical underwater world by teaching the children to pretend the faucet is a waterfall and rubber ducky is a sea creature. For ages 4-8
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard- Hubbard is a former special education teacher. In 1964, formerly enslaved Mary Walker went to school and learned to read. According to records of her birth, she was 116 years old. For ages 5-8
Blended by Sharon M. Draper – Draper is a national Teacher of the Year Award winner. Eleven-year-old Isabella is bi-racial. She has to switch lives every week because her parents are divorced. One week she’s with her Black dad and his girlfriend in an exclusive neighborhood where there are few black families. The next week she’s with her White mom and her boyfriend in the modest home she loves. She doesn’t look like either parent. How will she resolve her struggle to define her identity? For ages 10-12
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi – Emezi is a writer and an interdisciplinary artist. She was featured as Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leader in 2021. How do you save the world from monsters when no one will admit they exist? Jam and her best friend Redemption must answer that question when they meet Pet, a monster who escaped from a painting. For ages 12 and up
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Yoon is the first Black woman to have a book hit number one on The New York Times YA bestseller list. Natasha and Daniel didn’t plan to fall in love, but when they meet on a crowded street in New York, sparks fly. The problem is they live twelve hours away from each other, and Natasha and her family are about to be deported to Jamaica. How can this new love survive? For ages 12-17
We Are All so Good at Smiling by Amber McBride- McBride is an author, poet, and professor at the University of Virginia. This is a book about clinical depression and healing. Whimsy is back in the hospital being treated for clinical depression when she meets Faerry who also struggles with depression. When Faerry’s family moves to Whimsy’s neighborhood, he and Whimsy embark on a journey to the forest to confront their fears. For ages 14-17
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender – Callender is a Gamer in Los Angeles and an author. Felix Love has never been in love. He knows who he is, but he secretly worries being Black, queer, and transgender may make finding his person difficult. When he starts receiving homophobic notes and he’s outed by his deadname, Felix wants revenge. Will it bring him closure or make things worse? For ages 14-17
Sources for this article: