Hair - Social Justice Books

Early Elementary | Elementary | YA/Adult

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(*).

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Other Resources:

Download a Representation of Hair in Children's Books Resource Guide (PDF).
Article by Natasha Tarpley, author of I Love My Hair! : Why Do Kids' Books About Black Hair Draw So Much Attention — and Controversy?
In November, 2019, Teaching for Change offered a workshop on Hair Representation in Children's Literature at the National African American Museum of History and Culture.

Early Elementary

Hair Love*

By Matthew A. Cherry

By Sandra Cisneros

By bell hooks, Chris Raschka

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

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

Elementary

Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert

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

By Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

Camille Yarbrough

By Derrick Barnes

By Sharee Miller

Tina Olajide

Furqan's First Flat Top*

By Robert Liu-Trujillo

By Sandy Lynne Holman

Mylo Freeman

Kelly Tinkham

Latashia M. Perry

By Virginia Kroll

I Am Not a Number*

By Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

By Natasha Tarpley

Temeka Sherelle Parker

Jill Guerra

Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, Ebony Glenn

By Hannah Lee

By Cozbi A. Cabrera, Cozbi A. Cabrera (Illustrator)

By Heather Burris

By Sharee Miller

Hena Khan

By Monique Duncan

YA / Adult

Edited by La Pluma y La Tinta

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