Representation Matters: A List of Children’s Books with Black Characters
It still surprises me how hard it is to find children’s books with black characters in the local library or at the book store. I rarely stumble upon them while perusing the children’s sections. Unless I am intentionally looking for a specific author that specializes in children’s books with black characters, it is unlikely that I will see one. As long as I can remember, I have loved reading. When my daughter Annalise was born (click here to check out her birth story), I was so excited to share that joy with her. Ever since she was born, I have sought out children’s books with Black characters so that she would see herself represented.
As a mother raising two black children, I am very intentional about the types of media I expose them to. This is especially true when that media includes people of color, specifically Black people. As one might imagine, there is a lot of media that does not depict Black culture and Black people in positive ways. Throughout their lives, my children will receive negative imagery from the rest of the world about what it means to be Black. However, it is my job to present them with reasons to be proud of their beautiful brown skin, and the heritage it represents.
There is so much media that emphasizes and depicts the Black struggle. While those stories are an important part of my family’s cultural experience (and please believe the stories of our ancestors will be taught to my children), I think it is important to showcase Black characters in children’s books that are not struggling or being oppressed. My children are aged 4 and 2. At their current ages, they don’t have the maturity or context to digest those topics. At this point in their lives, I like to focus on books that show Black characters having positive experiences.
We try to read to our children every day. Over the years, we have accumulated a lot of children’s books. Please see some of our family’s favorite children’s books with black characters below:
The Harrison Family’s Favorite Children’s Books with Black Characters
Mary Had a Little Glam by Tammi Sauer
Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
This book was gifted to us by one of my favorite sorority sisters. This book is a modernized version of the song Mary had a little lamb. However, this Mary doesn’t have a lamb; she has lots of glam. The story follows her on a journey as she helps everyone around her to step up their fashion sense. Mary gives makeovers to everyone from her school principal to her classroom pet. This book is perfect for the girly-girl you have in your life.
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
I love this book because it celebrates the diversity of skin tones in the Black community. Seven-year-old Lena goes on a journey through her neighborhood, where she discovers that Black people come in different shades and hues. This book emphasizes that every shade of Black is beautiful. The book uses positive descriptive language to describe each of the different skin tones in the book.
Please Baby, Please by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
This book was my favorite book to read to my daughter for a long time. This book is from the vantage point of the baby’s mother. Throughout the book, she is begging for her baby to sleep, eat her food, and behave. Of course, the baby in the story (like all babies) has her own agenda. The book ends with the baby asking her mama for a kiss goodnight. This board book is perfect as a bedtime story for young children who you are trying to help develop an interest in reading.
Peekaboo Morning! by Rachel Isadora
This is another excellent board book about a toddler playing peekaboo with its family. This book was my daughter’s favorite book until very recently (she thinks it is a baby book now). My son also enjoys it quite a bit. The book is written in a very repetitive way. My children can participate in saying the words with me as I read it to them. Rachel Isadora is one of my favorite children’s authors. We have many of her books in our family library.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
Rachel Isadora has taken this classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale and given it an African twist. I initially purchased this book because the artwork stood out to me. Once purchased and read, the story of the twelve dancing princesses left my daughter engaged and wanting to know more about the princesses and where they were from. If you have a girl that loves a princess story (mine absolutely does), you cannot go wrong with this book.
15 Things Not to do with a Baby by Margaret McAllister
Illustrated by Holly Sterling
Do you have a little one that is about to be promoted to big brother or big sister? First, Congratulations! Second, this is an excellent book that touches on the topic of being an older sibling in a fun way. The book goes through 15 outrageous acts that you should never do with a baby, such as plant them in the garden or give the baby to a kangaroo.
Additionally, this book includes advice to the soon-to-be older sibling about great ways they can connect with their new baby. The book offers suggestions such as kissing them, hugging them, and giving them lots of love. These tips, coupled with cute pictures, makes this book a winner.
Beauty and the Beast a retelling by H. Chuku Lee
Illustrations by Pat Cummings
This retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale is flavored with West African culture. The clothing, hairstyles, and paintings seen throughout the book are breathtaking. The story is quite similar to the broader known version of this story. The illustrations in this book are what set it apart from other stories like it.
Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne
The main character Handa is on a journey to bring seven delicious fruit to her friend Akeyo in the neighboring village as a surprise. As you can imagine, things do not go quite as planned. One thing that really stands out to me about this book is the native African animals that Handa passes along the way to Akeyo’s village. Many of them are not animals that we see or hear about often in the United States. This provided me with an opportunity to educate my children about these African natives. The illustrations in this book are stunning. The bright and bold colors keep my children engaged every time we read it.
When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner
Illustrated by David Catrow
Of all of the books on this list, I love the illustrations in this book the most. Simply put, the book is visually stunning. Illustrations are most important part of books for young children. The pictures, coupled with the beautiful message that God was very intentional when he created each of us, make this book a delight. This book is a celebration of the uniqueness that we have all been designed with.
Girl of Mine by Jabari Asim
Illustrated by LeUeyen Pham
This board book celebrates the beauty of a father-daughter relationship. The father cradles his baby girl as the two of them are whisked away on a magical adventure. The text is read to the melody of “Rock-A-Bye Baby” and is perfect for helping your little one fall fast asleep.
This is my list of children’s books with black characters that my family loves. I also have a holiday list of diverse children’s books that you should check out. Have you read any of these books? Are there any that you would recommend? Please let me know in the comments below:
My son is still on board books, and he LOVES ‘Please baby Please’. Thanks for the other suggestions!
Please baby, Please is favorite in our home. I am not sure who likes it more, me or the kids! LOL
You have listed so many of my favorite. I’ve never heard of Mary Had a Little Glam, so I have to look into that one for sure.
Thanks for sharing. As an early childhood education, I try to find as many books with various representations.
Great read!
My daughter LOVES Mary Had a Little Glam. That book is adorable. If you end up getting it, let me know what you think.
Thank you for this! Super helpful.
I’m back to say that I found out that my local library has Please Baby, Please. I’m going to borrow it for my daughter!
My kids love that book. Let me know how you like it.
This is awesome. I will definitely be looking for these for my girls.
Great! Let me know if they like them.
These look so cute! I agree with you that representation is SO important. Little ones need to be able to see people who look like them doing amazing things, it really makes a difference!
It makes all the difference. My daughter loves seeing characters that look like her.
I love this! When God Made You is one of our absolute favorites and the illustrations of that one and others in that series are fantastic! Representation DOES matter! That is what drove my mother in law to author children’s books with biracial children and families when my children were born and we couldn’t find any out there. Thank you for highlighting such an important concept that many do not consider. I have especially found the same when searching for ballet figurines, ornaments, and other items for my oldest ballerina. When I find them, I am so excited!
I didn’t know there were more books in that series. I will have to look into them.
The book 15 Things Not to Do with a Baby represents a biracial family. If you haven’t read it already, you should check it out.
Omg I love all of these recommendations! As a mother with a house full of beautiful black & brown babies, I agree that it is so important to have books that showcase us like this. Thank you so much for this list! I’ll have to add them all to our collection. 🙂
I am glad you like them. These are all great books.
WOWWW “Mary Had a little Glam” where was this book when I was a kid!!! I love this list!!! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to buy my niece and nephews these books!
Mary Had a Little Glam is an awesome book. Your nieces and nephews are sure to enjoy it!
Love this! I have three nieces and am always looking for books that show little black girls that look like them. Thank you for sharing. ❤️
Representation does matter! Kids need to see themselves in everything. Thank you!
This!
Yes, girl!
I wish I had access to Amazon while raising my black boys in the Caribbean! We do need these influences for them and I applaud you for highlighting these.
Big up!
The black community should be encouraged to write their own stories. Am also an author : The Punching Bag: Story of a little girl with a disability. It’s available on Amazon
Thank you for your comment. What age group is your book geared towards?
I couldn’t agree with you more. We are raising white boys and I think it’s SO important for them to know that all people matter regardless of what we see in media. When looking at our bookshelves my heart got sad that we don’t have more of these books on our shelves. I just preordered When God Made You. Another GREAT book I would recommend is I am Human, a book of empathy. We just got it and my three year old loves it <3
Thank you for your comment. I have heard of I am Human, but I haven’t read it yet. I am going to order it for my kids.
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