Black Voices Booklist

These books were in the Black Voices: Picture Books as Antiracist Resources exhibition, on view at The Carle’s Reading Library from August 5, 2020 to January 3, 2021

Talking Race & Racism

Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham, Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko

Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs, illustrated by Shane Evans

Don’t Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López

Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

Honeysmoke by Monique Fields, illustrated by Yesenia Moises

I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina, illustrated by Stacey Robinson and John Jennings

I Am Enough by Grace Byers, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester, illustrated by Karen Barbour

New Kid by Jerry Craft

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Noa Denmon

Skin Again by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka

Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivion

Tan to Tamrind: Poems About the Color Brown by Malathi Iyengar, illustrated by Jamel Akib

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Whose Toes are Those? by Jabari Asim, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt, illustrated by Selino Alko and Sean Qualls

Celebrating Black Lives

All Because You Matter by Tami Charles, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle by Hilda Eunice Burgos

Another by Christian Robinson

Baby Says by John Steptoe

Be Boy Buzz by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka

Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Redd, illustrated by Nneka Myers

Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Calling the Water Drum by LaTisha Redding, illustrated by Aaron Boyd

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James

The Field by Baptiste Paul, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara

Freedom Soup by Tami Charles, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara

A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Nina Crews

Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Daniel Minter

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel, illustrated by Shane Evans

Homemade Love by bell hooks, illustrated by Shane Evans

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by James Gordon

In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers by Javaka Steptoe

Layla’s Happiness by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin

Looking for Bongo by Eric Velasquez

Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Ebony Glenn

My Rainy Day Rocketship by Markette Sheppard, illustrated by Charly Palmer

The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba-Clarke, illustrated by Van T. Rudd

Princess Hair by Sharee Miller

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

The Roots of Rap by Carole Boston Weatherfod, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Saturday by Oge Mora

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter by Eric Shabazz Larkin

When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

Where’s Rodney? by Carmen Bogan, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe

Standing Together

A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara

An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing, illustrated by Paulina Morgan

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky

Be a King by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by James Ransome

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Michaeux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Destiny’s Gift by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, illustrated by Adjoa J. Burrowes

Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Magdalena Mora

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Eric Shabazz-Larkin

Intersection Allies: We Make Room for All by Carolyn Choi, LaToya Council, and Chelsea Johnson, illustrated by Ashley Seil Smith

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de La Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson 

Lend a Hand: Poems About Giving by John Frank, illustrated by London Ladd

Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Milo’s Museum by Zetta Elliot, illustrated by Purple Wong

Oh, The Things We’re For! by Innosanto Nagara

The Power Book by Claire Saunders, Georgia Amson-Bradshaw, Minna Salami, Mik Scarlet, and Hazel Songhurst, illustrated by Joelle Avalino

Shirley Chisholm is a Verb! by Veronica Chambers, illustrated by Rachelle Baker

Speak up! by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Ebony Glenn

We March by Shane W. Evans

Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Olivia Gatwood, illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

Young, Gifted, and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson, illustrated by Andrea Pippins