Racial Justice Children's Book Recommendations

As parents, there are ways we can model and teach anti-racism to our kids, and children’s literature can be a powerful tool. The following books are ones we’ve read and recommend specifically as you talk with your children about individual and institutional racism. As children of God, we want to take a stand against injustice in all its forms and raise kids who will do the same. 

For Elementary-Aged Kids

God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

I Am Enough by Grace Byers

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

For Preschoolers

Whose Toes are Those?  by Jabiri Asim

The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match by Monica Brown

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner