If you're seeking children's books that honor and celebrate African-American history, Oakland Public Library has what you need! The following staff recommendations are perfect to share with your kiddos year-round, and especially in observance of African-American History Month. We hope you enjoy our suggestions; let us know in the comments if we missed any of your favorites!

Picture Books

Charlie Parker played be bop /  Chris Raschka

The Hallelujah Flight / Phil Bildner; illus. by John Holyfield

Henry's Freedom Box / Ellen Levine; illus. by Kadir Nelson

My people / Langston Hughes; photos by Charles R. Smith Jr.

The Other Side / Jacqueline Woodson; illus. by Earl B. Lewis

Rap a Tap Tap / Leo and Diane Dillon

We March / Shane W. Evans

 

Fiction

Bud, not Buddy / Christopher Paul Curtis

Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father's Secret Children / Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Lions of Little Rock / Kristin Levine

One Crazy Summer / Rita Williams-Garcia

 

Nonfiction

 

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice / Phillip Hoose

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America's First Black Paratroopers / Tanya Lee Stone

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave / Laban Carrick Hill; illus. by Bryan Collier

Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men who Changed America / Andrea Davis Pinkney; illus. by Brian Pinkney

March: Book One / John Lewis; co-written by Andrew Aydin; art by Nate Powell

Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker / Kathryn Lasky; illus. by Nneka Bennett

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball / Kadir Nelson

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson / Pam Muñoz Ryan; illus. by Brian Selznick

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman / Kathleen Krull; illus. by David Diaz