We’re always on the lookout for great books that help our children celebrate and love their own skin & respect and appreciate others. This list here? These are a few of our favorites– books we keep on our shelves all year round, and that we are constantly pulling out with our kids. Check out these stories of some of the most amazing artists, musicians, dancers, community leaders– people– our world has ever known.
Jake Makes a World: The story of Jacob Lawrence, a Young Artist in Harlem
Written by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
Illustrated by Christopher Myers
Story Painter, The Life of Jacob Lawrence
Written by Jacob Duggleby
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin
Written by Jen Bryant
Illusrated by Melissa Sweet
I Have A Dream
Written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
Written by Laban Carrick Hill
Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad
Written by Ellen Levine
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
When the Beat was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop
Written by Laban Carrick Hill
Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
Written by Renee Watson
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat
Written by Muriel Harris Weinstein
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
Written by Kathryn-Russell Brown
Illustrated by Frank Morrison
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