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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(*).

Aani & the Tree Huggers

By Jeannine Atkins

 

The Bee Tree

By Stephen Buchmann, Diana Cohn, Paul Mirocha (Illustrator)

 

Buffalo Song

By Joseph Bruchac

 

Crane Boy

By Diana Cohn, Youme Landowne (Illustrator)

 

Creekfinding: A True Story*

By Jacqueline Briggs Martin

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia

By Miranda Paul

 

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson

By Amy Ehrlich, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist*

By Margarita Engle

 

The Story of the Blue Planet

By Andri Snaer Magnason, Aslaug Jonsdottir (Illustrator)

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees

By Franck Pravot

Bayou Magic

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

 

Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines

By Paul Fleischman

 

Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who Are Helping to Protect Our Planet

By Harriet Rohmer, Julie McLaughlin (Illustrator)

 

Margarito's Forest

by Andy Carter, Allison Haves (illustrator), Omar Mejia (Translator)

Ninth Ward

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Omnivore's Dilemma: Young Readers Edition

By Michael Pollan

Same Sun Here

By Silas House, Neela Vaswani, Hilary Schenker (Illustrator)

 

Coal Mountain Elementary

By Mark Nowak, Ian Teh (Photographer)

Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America's Health, Economy, Politics, Culture, and Environment

By Denis Hayes, Gail Boyer Hayes

The David Suzuki Reader: A Lifetime of Ideas from a Leading Activist and Thinker

By David Suzuki

 

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

By Bill McKibben

 

Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace

By Vandana Shiva

The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems

By Van Jones

 

Mean Spirit

By Linda Hogan

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

By Michael Pollan

A People's History of Environmentalism in the United States

By Chad Montrie

 

Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis

By Sandra Steingraber

 

Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland

By Jeff Biggers

Seed Sovereignty, Food Security: Women in the Vanguard of the Fight Against GMOs and Corporate Agriculture

By Vandana Shiva

Silent Spring

By Rachel Carson

 

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply

By Vandana Shiva

 

The Story of Stuff: The Impact of Overconsumption on the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health--And How We Can Make It Better

By Annie Leonard

 

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate

By Naomi Klein

 

The Vandana Shiva Reader

By Vandana Shiva

World Hunger: Twelve Myths

By Frances Moore Lappe, Peter Rosset, Luis Esparza

 

Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability

By C. Bowers

A People's Curriculum for the Earth Teaching about the Environmental Crisis

By Bill Bigelow (Editor), Tim Swinehart (Editor)

 

Rethinking Early Childhood Education

By Ann Pelo (Editor)