Early Childhood: Learning about Family Structures

Teaching for Change carefully selects the best multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. Learn about our criteria for selecting titles. 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.

Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk (*).

See more recommended titles: Grandparents and Elders and Incarceration.

Abuelita and Me

By Leonarda Carranza and Rafael Mayani (Illustrator)

Alfredito Flies Home

By Jorge Argueta, Luis Garay (Illustrator)

And Tango Makes Three

By Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

Antonio's Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio

By Rigoberto Gonzalez, Cecilia Alvarez (Illustrator)

Beauty Woke

By Nonieqa Ramos and Paola Escobar (Illustrator)

Bedtime Bonnet

By Nancy Redd and Nneka Myers (Illustrator)

Benji, the Bad Day, and Me

By Sally J. Pla

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border *

By Mitali Perkins and Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

The Big Bed*

By Bunmi Laditan, Tom Knight (Illustrator)

Bird

By Zetta Eliot

Brown Is Beautiful

By Supriya Kelkar and Noor Sofi (Illustrator)

Dear Child

By John Farrell, Maurie Jo Manning (Illustrator)

A Father Like That

By Charlotte Zolotow, LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

Going Down Home with Daddy

By Kelly Starling Lyons

Going Home, Coming Home/Ve Nha, Tham Que Huong

By Truong Tran, Ann Phong (Illustrator)

Grandpa

By Debbie Bailey, Susan Huszar (Photographer)

Happy Like Soccer

By Maribeth Boelts, Lauren Castillo (Illustrator)

Heather Has Two Mommies

By Leslea Newman, Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

I Promise

By Catherine Hernandez and Syrus Marcus Ware (Illustrator)

The Katha Chest

By Radhiah Chowdhury and Lavanya Naidu (Illustrator)

Kids Need to Be Safe: A Book for Children in Foster Care

By Julie Nelson, PH.D., Mary Gallagher (Illustrator)

Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me *

By Daniel Beaty

The Longest Storm

By Dan Yaccarino

Los Mejores Colores/Best Colors

By Eric Hoffman, Eida de La Vega (Translator), Celeste Henriquez (Illustrator)

Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers

By Uma Mishra-Newbery, Lina Al-Hathloul, and Rebecca Green (Illustrator)

Love*

By Matt de la Pena, Loren Long (Illustrator)

Loving Me

By Debby Slier

Luis Paints the World*

By Terri Farish

Malaika's Surprise

By Nadia L. Hohn and Irene Luxbacher (Illustrator)

Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle

By Nina Lacour and Kaylani Juanita (Illustrator)

Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation*

By Edwidge Danticat, Leslie Staub (Illustrator)

Mariana and Her Familia

By Mónica Mancillas and Erika Meza (Illustrator)

Me and Ms. Too *

By Laura Ruby and Dung Ho (Illustrator)

Mom and Mum Are Getting Married!

By Ken Setterington, Alice Priestley (Illustrator)

Mom Can Fix Anything

By Kimberlee Graves, Lucyna A. M. Green (Illustrator)

Night Job

By Karen Hesse

On Mother's Lap

By Ann Herbert Scott

Our Granny

By Julie Vivas (Illustrator), Margaret Wild

On My Papa's Shoulders

By Niki Daly

Pablo's Tree

By Pat Mora, Cecily Lang (Illustrator)

The Rainbow Parade

By Emily Neilson

Shayla's Shutdown Solution

By Danya Carter, Samaria Short, and Camryn Simms (Illustrator)

Sometimes We Do *

Omowale Moses

Sona Sharma, Very Best Big Sister? *

By Chitra Soundar and Jen Khatun (Illustrator)

Still a Family

By Brenda Reeves Sturgis

Sunday Shopping

By Sally Derby

Ten Beautiful Things

By Molly Griffin and Maribel Lechuga (Illustrator)

'Twas the Night Before Pride

By Joanna McClintick and Juana Medina (Illustrator)

Waiting for Papa/Esperando a Papa

By Rene Colato Lainez, Anthony Accardo (Illustrator)

We Are Little Feminists: Families

By Archaa Shrivastav

Where Three Oceans Meet *

By Rajani Larocca and Archana Sreenivasan (Illustrator)

Working Cotton

By Sherley Anne Williams, Carole Byard (Illustrator)

Zahra's Blessing: A Ramadan Story

By Shirin Shamsi and Manal Mirza (Illustrator)
Spanish edition available: La bendición de Zahra: un relato de Ramadán

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