It’s Black History Month all year round in the Oak Tree Library! We know that representation matters. Children being able to pick up a book and see characters that look like them can open their imaginations to countless possibilities, but unfortunately people of color are still greatly underrepresented in literature. (Click HERE if you’re interested in learning about statistics on diversity and representation in children’s books.) Because of this, we had to intentionally look at our library and search for Black representation to ensure that Oak Tree kids could walk in and find a book on a topic that interests them and that represents their culture in a positive way.
We often get asked for children’s book recommendations to help diversify home and classroom libraries, so we thought now would be a great time to share some titles with you for Black History Month!
You may have already seen these books on our social media accounts (be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook) but you may not have been able to see the books in the first image clearly, so here’s a list!
Who Was Jesse Owens? - Buckley
Who Is Michael Jordan? - Anderson
Who Was Was Martin Luther King Jr.? - Bader
Who Was Rosa Parks? - McDonough
Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? - Smith
What Was the Underground Railroad? - McDonough
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History - Harrison
From Slave to Soldier - Hopkinson/Floca
Gordon Parks - Christoph
Dave the Potter - Hill/Collier
A Dance Like Starlight - Cooper
Love Twelve Miles Long - Armand/Bootman
Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten - Veirs/Fazlalizadeh
Art From Her Heart - Whitehead/Evans
Salt in His Shoes - Jordan/Nelson
Sit-In - Pinkney
Let the Children March - Clark-Robinson/Morrison
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race - Shetterly/Freeman
Between the Lines - Wallace/Collier
Take a Picture of Me, James Vanderzee! - Loney/Mallett
Harlem’s Little Blackbird - Watson/Robinson
Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers’ Journey from Slave to Artist - Herkert/Brantley-Newton
Lift Your Light a Little Higher - Henson/Collier
I am Martin Luther King Jr. - Meltzer/Eliopoulos
The Hallelujah Flight - Bildner/Holyfield
Wind Flyers - Johnson/Long
Wilma Unlimited - Krull/Diaz
She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story - Vernick/Tate
Long Shot - Paul/Morrison
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library - Weatherford/Velasquez
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 - Becker/Phumiruk
The Undefeated - Alexander/Nelson
We hope you enjoy celebrating Black History month by learning about some of these amazing men and women! What’s your favorite Black History book?
PS:
If you’d like to support our Reading Club, you can purchase books HERE. Making the change to virtual Reading Club has allowed us build each student’s own personal library! Every week Reading Club kids get a brand new book to read together over Zoom. You can keep checking this link to purchase books every month!
If you want to help us continue building a diverse library you can purchase from our library wishlist HERE.
THANK YOU for being a part of creating a culture where kids love to read!