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

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

Not recommended

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Lovable Lyle by Bernard Waber
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
We Are a Garden by Lisa Westberg Peters
The World Needs More Purple People by Kristen Bell, Benjamin Hart
The World Needs More Purple Schools by Kristen Bell, Benjamin Hart

Learn about our criteria for selecting 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). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

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)

Black, White, Just Right! *

By Marguerite W. Davol, Irene Trivas (Illustrator)

By Supriya Kelkar and Noor Sofi (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 Leah Freeman-Haskin and Shantala Robinson (Illustrator)

By Samara Cole Doyon, Kaylani Juanita (Illustrator)

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

By Yangsook Choi, Yangsook Choi (Illustrator)

By Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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) Spanish edition: Nuestra Piel

By Nancy Redd and Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Illustrator)

Saltypie a Choctaw Journey from Darkness Into Light *

By Tim Tingle, Karen Clarkson

By bell hooks

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

Sulwe *

By Lupita Nyongo, Vashti Harrison

Tea Cakes for Tosh*

By Kelly Starling Lyons

That Flag *

By Tameka Fryer Brown and Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator)

By Margaret H. Mason, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

By Toyomi Igus, Daryl Wells (Illustrator)

By Laleña Garcia, Caryn Davidson (Illustrator)

By Monique Duncan

By Jabari Asim, LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

Not recommended

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Black is a Rainbow
Color *

Our Skin: A First Conversation
About Race *

By Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)
Spanish edition: Nuestra Piel