Booklist for Ideal Bookshelf 1163: Antiracist Kids

Okay it took me forever (there are so many great books!!) but thanks to all your recommendations here’s a stack for kids, from babies up to about 12, I’d say (YA/teens set coming soon). It does include books about racism and how to be antiracist, but also about what it’s like to be made to feel different and other or to be welcomed and included with love, and about how to love everything about yourself ❤️. (And it does include books about experiences other than being Black and dealing with systemic racism in the US; I went a little more broad for this one!)

There are way more I could have added, but already it’s hard to read the tiny titles even zoomed in. Also, I don’t have kids, so I could be a bit wrong about what age a book suits (I've heard the young readers' adaptation of Born a Crime and Stamped might be better suited for teens!).

The list below links to buy the books on Bookshop.org, which financially supports local, independent bookstores. (Official disclosure: We are an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

• A Child's Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim, illustrated by Lynn Gaines
• A Is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
• A Kids Book About Racism by Jelani Memory
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing, illustrated by Paulina Morgan
• Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Can I Touch Your Hair? by Irene Latham & Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko
• Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
• Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes
• Harlem's Little Blackbird by Renée Watson, illustrated by Christian Robinson
• Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
• I Am Enough by Grace Byers, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo
• I Am Loved by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Ashley Bryan
• I Am Not a Number by Dr. Jenny K. Dupuis & Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Gillian Newland
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
• Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
• Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Skin Again by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka
• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano PhD, Marietta Collins PhD, & Ann Hazzard PhD, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
• Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
• Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
• The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López
• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
• The Power Book by Claire Saunders, Georgia Amson-Bradshaw, Minna Salami, Mik Scarlett, & Hazel Songhurst, illustrated by Joelle Avelino
• The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S.K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly
• The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell & Aurélia Durand
• This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe
• When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
• Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt, illustrated by Selina Alko & Sean Qualls
• Woke Baby by Mahogany L. Browne, illustrated by Theodore Taylor, III
• You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel
• You Matter by Christian Robinson