More than half of K-12 Public School Students are children of color however, children’s books have not been representative of this population with less than 10% of children’s books featuring Black characters according to the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Another study found that between 1985 and 2014, the amount of published children’s books by Black authors and illustrators was less than 4% and Books featuring African American content was less than 6%.​
Read on to access best practices for finding books featuring Black characters, a culturally-responsive book list, places to purchase Black children's books online, resources for free read alouds, featured Black Authors, and more. 

---

Best Practices for Selecting Culturally-Responsive Books with Black Characters

• Books featuring Black protagonists
• Majority of books are award-winning and/or written by award-winning Black authors
• Generally, content is culturally supportive of students (ie.,validate students’ cultural identity; issues and perspectives included from the cultural background; readings about the cultures of the students)​
  

• Generally affirming, not about civil rights, slavery, or overcoming injustice
• Generally affirming, not on degradation and endurance of black people
• We didn’t hold fast to these, but these tools were useful in our selection of books for the toolkits; Reading Diversity, A Tool For Selecting Diverse Texts and Reading Diversity Lite (Teacher’s Edition)

---

Check out this curated list of culturally-responsive and relevant children’s books for students of all ages.​

Download PDF

---

Purchase Black Children's Books Online

Check out these resources for purchasing culturally-responsive books featuring Black characters in a variety of formats from bulk options, subscription boxes, and kits.

First Book Marketplace

Our Shelves

Eye See Me

---

With a nonprofit organization? Make an Amazon Charity List with culturally-responsive children’s books you want for the children you serve. Share on your social media channels, website, and via email with your donors and supporters. They can purchase the books and ship them directly to you!

Learn More

---

Watch Online Read Alouds

Check out these YouTube channels for a variety of Black Children's Books read aloud for free.

Sankofa Read Aloud

Gracie's Corner

Black Children's Books Read Aloud

---

Are you with an organization in Asheville or Buncombe County?
Contact Read to Succeed at info@r2sasheville.org to request a set of culturally-responsive books for your program!

---

Featured Author

Ms. J.P. Miller
Asheville native and award-winning children’s book author of series: “Leaders Like Us,” “Black Stories Matter,” and “Careers in the U.S. Military.”

Learn More