One step to teaching kids about race is to introduce other cultures into the media you present them, including books, movies and music. Another way is for kids to read about racism directly so they can begin to understand it.
These books about racism and tolerance are appropriate for readers of all ages and reading levels.
Preschoolers
The Colors of Us, by Karen Katz
Best for ages: Birth-4
This board book explains all the different colors of people describing those colors using food (French toast and honey, for example). While racism as a broad term isn’t discussed, it reminds kids that people can’t be painted using the same brush.
Antiracist Baby, by Ibram X. Kendi
Best for ages: Birth-4
With nine simple steps, parents can start their kids on a path toward being anti-racist. From seeing and accepting all colors to admitting when we do or say something that is racist, babies and parents can follow a list toward antiracism.
Let’s Talk About Race, by Julius Lester
Best for ages: 2-5
Good for all ages, the book explains that every person has a story to his or her life (birthday, favorite color, favorite time of day, how many brothers and sisters) and explains that race is part of that story. It reminds kids that race isn’t all that we are, but only one part of the story.
The Other Side, by Jacqueline Woodson
Best for ages: 4-8
A fence separates two homes in a town in the 1960s. Told from the perspective of a young black girl, she meets a young white girl her same age and is first told not to talk to her or stare at her in town. The two slowly become friends and learn about inclusion. This book allows parents a chance to discuss the imagery of the fence and what kids can learn about being on either side.
Happy Within: A Children’s Book About Race, Diversity and Self-love, by Marisa J. Taylor and Vanessa Balleza
- Best for ages: 2-6
This book shares an important message about having the confidence to love yourself, no matter your race or background. Written by a biracial mother, “Happy Within” prepares children for becoming confident and secure in themselves despite the prejudice of the world around them. When we appreciate ourselves and each other exacttly as we are, our world will begin to be a less prejudiced place.
Early Readers
A Kid’s Book About Racism, by Jelani Memory
Best for ages: 5-8
Using words and descriptions that kids will understand, the book teaches younger readers about what racism is and how it makes others feel. It’s a good reminder for kids to stand up when they see others being hurt by words or actions.
Something Happened in Our Town, A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice, by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins & Ann Hazzard
Best for ages: 5-10
Written in 2018, families of different color talk about a police shooting and white and black history in America. With kids in mind, the different discussions in each family explain fear and understanding. After talking with their families, kids work harder for inclusion and break bad patterns.
The Day You Begin, by Jacqueline Woodson
Best for ages: 5-8
Children return to school and listen to the stories of what each one did over the summer. Meeting new classmates means not only opening eyes to new experiences, but also remembering that her own experiences don’t diminish her is what the narrator teaches the reader.
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, by Anastasia Higginbotham
Best for ages: 6-10
Addressing a police shooting and written in 2018, the book supposes a real-time situation of protests, marchers and how families of different colors react. The children in the book can hear and see the TV news, and ask their families with different responses.
Teens & Tweens
This Book is Anti-Racist, by Tiffany Jewell
Best for ages: 10-18
Twenty chapters provide 20 lessons for teens and tweens to understand how to not only not be racist, but to identify and stand up for racism when they see it.
Stamped, by Jason Reynolds and Ibrihim X. Kendi
Best for ages: 10-14
This “remix” of Stamped from the Beginning is written for tweens and teens to understand how the history of racist ideas shapes today’s culture.
March, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
Best for ages: 12-18
Congressman John Lewis lent his personal history to this graphic novel series that takes the reader through the Civil Rights Movement in three books.
A Few Red Drops: Chicago Race Riots of 1919, by Claire Hartfield
Best for ages: 10-15
The history of the Chicago Race Riots interweaves how and why the riots happened with examples that kids can understand.
Black Enough, edited by Ibi Zoboi
Best for ages: 10-18
Seventeen contributors added stories from their lives to tell the story of being young and black in America.
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper
- Best for ages: 8-12
Part of an anti-racist future is to address instances racism in our country’s past. This true story of the horrific Tulsa race massacre explains one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history in a way that younger readers can understand and process.
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