Poster from the Boston University African Studies Center

This list is based on books reviewed and recommended by Africa Access. Visit their website for a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. They host an annual Children’s Africana Book Award.

The criteria used to guide our book selection on Africa are outlined in the article I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa! by representatives from Teaching for Change and Africa Access.

Titles that we recommend are featured below. The ones with reviews are noted with an asterisk (*). Some titles are recommended with a caveat. At the end of this page is a list of titles on this theme, with reviews, that we do not recommend.

Learn More

An excellent reading for teachers and parents to discuss is I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa! (Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2008). Submitted by Teaching for Change in collaboration with Africa Access, this article critiques the stereotypes in popular children's books and films, helps educators reflect on their own classroom, and provides a list of recommended titles.

Africa Access: Literature recommendations, student research projects, and a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. Coordinates the annual Children’s Africana Book Award.

African Studies K-12 Outreach Programs: University based programs which provide resources and professional development for teachers.

H-AfrTeach: A discussion list which provides a forum on teaching about Africa at all educational levels.

Masifunde Sonke Book Project: An education initiative of South Africa Partners promotes children’s literature from the new South Africa. For each book purchased in the United States, South Africa Partners donates a second copy of the same book to a rural or township school in South Africa.

What Do We Want Children to Learn About Africa? This short article by Margy Burns Knight shares disturbing examples of how contemporary resources for children, including a National Geographic classroom poster, exotify Africans. The article includes the outline for a professional development activity.

Not recommended

The Banana-Leaf Ball by Katie Smith Milway
Gbagbe by Robtel Neajai Pailey
The Mangrove Tree by Cindy Trumbore, Susan L. Roth
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
Walking for Water: How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality by Susan Hughes

Learn about our criteria for selecting and reviewing titles at Social Justice Books. Feedback on these lists and suggestions for additional titles are welcome.

Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform) and / or Powells.com (an independent, unionized bookstore). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

Elementary

Africa Is Not a Country*

By Margy Burns Knight, Jim Knight, Anne Sibley O'Brien (Illustrator)

By Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Nelda LaTeef (Illustrator)

By Uzoma Ezekwudo and Zulfikar Rachman (Illustrator)

By Ain Heath Drew and Erin K. Robinson (Illustrator)

By Atinuke, Angela Brooksbank

By Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Aaron Boyd

By Atinuke, Angela Brooksbank

The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa*

By Cristina Kessler

OUT OF PRINT

By Sylviane A. Diouf, Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)

Bottle Tops: The Art of El Anatsui *

By Alison Goldberg and Elizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)

By Mary Hoffman, Caroline Binch (Illustrator)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind*

By William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer, Elizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)

By Mubina Hassanali Kirmani

By Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank (Illustrator)

By Florence H. Parry and Ted Lewin (Illustrator)

By Elinor Batezat Sisulu, Sharon Wilson (Illustrator)

By Desmond Tutu, A. G. Ford (Illustrator)

Egyptian Lullaby *

By Zeena M. Pliska and Hatem Aly (Illustrator)

By Karen Lynn Williams, Catherine Stock (Illustrator)

Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family *

By Elizabeth Zunon

By Karen Leggett Abouraya and Susan L. Roth (Illustrator)

By Adrienne Wright

By Useni E. Perkins and Laura Freeman (Illustrator)

By Richard Turere and Shelly Pollock

By Kathryn Erskine, Charly Palmer (Illustrator)

By Eric Walters, Eva Campbell (Illustrator)

My Father's Shop

By Satomi Ichikawa

OUT OF PRINT

By Karen Lynn Williams, Khadra Mohammed, Catherine Stock (Illustrator)

By Tololwa M. Mollel

Nana Akua Goes to School *

By Tricia Elam Walker and April Harrison (Illustrator)

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Abridged By Chris Van Wyk, Paddy Bouma (Illustrator)

OUT OF PRINT

Nile Crossing *

By Katy Beebe and Sally Wern Comport (Illustrator)

By Niki Daly

By Miranda Paul

One Wish: Fatima Al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University *

By M. O. Yuksel and Mariam Quraishi (Illustrator)

Room for Everyone *

By Naaz Khan and Mercè López (Illustrator)

By Eric Adjepong and Lala Watkins (Illustrator)

By Jen Johnson, Sonia Sadler (Illustrator)

Sing to the Moon*

By Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn (Illustrator)

By Nathalie Soussana, Jean-Christophe Hoarau (Another primary creator), Judith Gueyfier (Illustrator)

By Monika Singh Gangotra and Michaela Dias-Hayes (Illustrator)

Too Small Tola*

By Atinuke

By Rhonda Roumani and Ahmed Abdelmohsen (Illustrator)

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees*

By Franck Pravot

When I Get Older: The Story Behind "Wavin' Flag"*

By K'Naan with Sol Guy, Rudy Gutierrez (Illustrator)

By Monique Duncan

Middle

Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad *

By Monica Edinger, Robert Byrd (Illustrator)

By Adwoa Badoe

By Efua Traoré

Crossing the Stream *

By Elizabeth-Irene Baitie

The Door of No Return *

By Kwame Alexander

By Elizabeth-Irene Baitie

By Baba Wagué Diakité

By Mamle Wolo

By Ann Cameron

By Meja Mwangi