Books that Celebrate Diversity and library resources
Our favorite librarian, Erin, has put together with her team a fantastic list of books that celebrate diversity
Are you looking for books for you and your kids that celebrate diversity?
Luckily, the Louisville Free Public Library staff is amazing and has compiled a list on their website. Click here for their list of books that celebrate diversity. If you are unsure about some of the options online through the LFPL, we have a post that will help you learn about their options and how to use their tools.
The Louisville Free Public Library has ebooks on Social Justice and Activism for Kids and Teens.
We have a list of board books first that celebrate diversity followed by recommendations for children as they age. The images are linked with our affiliate Amazon but we encourage you to check the local library and local bookstores to see if copies of these books are available.
Currently, we are finding that these books are in high demand! So, get them where you can and start reading with your kids about this important topic. The need to include books like these in your reading list isn’t just for now. There are so many options for different ages. If you remember this list, you can reference it to select books and continue to learn, expand your understanding, and celebrate all of the beautiful things each culture in our community contributes positively to towns, cities, and lives.
- Go Girls Go by Frances Gilbert
- Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue
- Hair Like Mine by LaTashia M. Perry
- M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose
- I Am Enough by Grace Byers
- Yes I Can! A Girl and Her Wheelchair by Claire A. B. Freeland, Jacqueline B. Toner, and Kendra J. Barrett
- Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang
- All Kinds of Families by Suzanne Lang
- Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
- Early Sunday Morning by Denene Millner
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
- I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison
- A Kid’s Book About Racism by Jelani Memory
- Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison
- Don’t Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller
- Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
- I Am Mixed by Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastain A. Jones
- Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs
- Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs
- One Family by George Shannon
- Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
- Crowning Glory by Joyce Carol Thomas
- Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
- All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
- We March by Shane W. Evans
- Happy in our Skin by Fran Manushkin
- Same Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
- The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler
- The Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
- The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
- Let’s Talk about Race by Julius Lester
- My Mommy Medicine by Edwidge Danticat
- Saturday and Thank You Omu by Oge Mora
- Can I Touch Your Hair by Irene Latham
- Fancy Party Gowns by Deborah Blumenthal
- Intersection Allies: We Make Room for All by Chelsea Johnson
- Hands Up by Breanna McDaniel
- Grandma’s Tiny House by JaNay Brown-Wood
- Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
- Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana-Martinez-Neal
- Lullaby for a Black Mother by Langston Hughes
- Saffron Ice Cream by Rashin Kheiriyeh
- Just Like a Mama by Alice Faye Duncan
- The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes
- When Aiden Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff
- Get Up Stand Up by Bob Marley
- Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson
- Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley
- Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
- Is There Really a Human Race by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
- The Magic Beads by Susin Nielsen-Fernlund
- Migrant by Maxine Trottier
- Malaika’s Costume by Nadia L. Holm
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
- The New Kid by Jerry Craft
- March Series by John Lewis (3 volumes)
- Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
- A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Ramee
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
- Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
- Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
Young Adult Books that celebrate diversity
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
- Blended by Sharon M. Draper
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexis
- Internment by Samira Ahmed
- Flight Season by Marie Marquardt
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
- Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
- Saving Savannah by Tonya Newton Bolden
Check out some more amazing public library and publisher book lists:
It is important to get your kids reading this summer, no matter what they read! There are many summer reading programs available, check our the list here.
