Early Childhood: Learning About and Affirming Racial Identity

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 Powells, an independent, union labor bookstore. Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk(*).

We also recommend this article by Kara Hinderlie in Rethinking Schools, Black is Beautiful and this excerpt from the book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards, Teaching Young Children about Race: A Guide for Parents and Teachers.

See more recommended titles on these lists: Civil Rights Teaching, Black History, Early Childhood Anti-Bias Education Booklists

By Sheila Hamanaka, Sheila Hamanaka (Illustrator)

All The Colors We Are: The Story Of How We Get Our Skin Color*

By Katie Kissinger

By W. Nikola-Lisa, Michael Bryant (Illustrator)

By Patricia Hubbell, Don Tate (Illustrator)

By Arnold Adoff, Emily Arnold McCully (Illustrator)

Black is a Rainbow Color *

By Angela Joy, Ekua Holmes (Illustrator)

By Marguerite W. Davol, Irene Trivas (Illustrator)

Child of the Civil Rights Movement*

By Paula Young Shelton, Raul Colon (Illustrator)

By Elinor Batezat Sisulu, Sharon Wilson (Illustrator)

Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color*

By Jyoti Gupta

By Sandra Cisneros

By Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James

By Myles C. Pinkney, Sandra L. Pinkney

By Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

By Nzinga-Christina Reid and Howard Barry (Illustrator)

By Nzinga-Christina Reid and Howard Barry (Illustrator)

By Linda Trice

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

By Samara Cole Doyon, Kaylani Juanita (Illustrator)

By Langston Hughes, Charles R. Smith Jr (Illustrator)

By Yangsook Choi, Yangsook Choi (Illustrator)

By Abdul Razak Zachariah, Keturah A Bobo

By Ysaye M. Barnwell, Synthia Saint James (Illustrator)

By Jacqueline Woodson, E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race *

By Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)

By Tim Tingle, Karen Clarkson

By Sandra L. Pinkney, Myles C. Pinkney (Photographer)

Sulwe *

By Lupita Nyongo, Vashti Harrison

Tea Cakes for Tosh*

By Kelly Starling Lyons

By Margaret H. Mason, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

By Roberta Grobel Intrater

By Toyomi Igus, Daryl Wells (Illustrator)

By Laleña Garcia, Caryn Davidson (Illustrator)

By Monique Duncan

By Jabari Asim, LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

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Black is a Rainbow
Color *

Our Skin: A First Conversation
about Race *