Lists and Suggestions for Kids

Also available in Hoopla. Little Mazie wants the freedom to stay up late, but her father explains what freedom really means in the story of Juneteenth, and how her ancestors celebrated their true freedom.

Illustrations and brief text portray the events of the 1963 march in Washington, D.C., where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a historic speech.

A young slave stitches a quilt with a map pattern which guides her to freedom in the North.

In 1865, members of a family start their day as slaves, working in a Texas cotton field, and end it celebrating their freedom on what came to be known as Juneteenth.

A boy's love of flight takes him on a journey from the dusty dirt roads of Alabama to the war-torn skies of Europe. Introduces young readers to the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.

Ellen has always known that the broom hanging on her family's cabin wall is a special symbol of her parents' wedding during slave days, so she proudly carries it to the courthouse when the marriage becomes legal.

A runaway slave during the Civil War, Hope's father returns after the Emancipation Proclamation as a member of the U.S. Colored Troops.

Illustrations and easy-to-read text follow a family through five generations as each is inspired by the song written in 1900 to honor Abraham Lincoln. Includes author's note on the history of the song and its meaning in her family.

In Harlem in the 1920s, in the middle of a family Christmas party, Marie receives a nutcracker from her Uncle Cab, which leads to a marvelous dream in this resetting of E.T.A. Hoffmann's familiar tale. Includes historical notes.

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Growing up in the segregated town of Clarksville, Tennessee, in the 1960s, Alta's family cannot afford to buy her new sneakers--but she still plans to attend the parade celebrating her hero Wilma Rudolph's three Olympic gold medals.

Also available in Hoopla. A rope passed down through the generations frames an African American family's story as they journey north during the time of the Great Migration.

It's summertime! Ana & Andrew travel to visit their grandparents in Savannah, Georgia. While they are there, they learn that Grandma and Grandpa's church was built by slaves. With some help from an unusual source!

In 1932, James Banning, along with his co-pilot Thomas Allen, make history by becoming the first African Americans to fly across the United States, relying on the generosity of people they meet in the towns along the way who help keep their "flying jalopy" going.

A girl named Ruth Anne tells the story of her family's train journey from North Carolina to New York City as part of the Great Migration.

Presents the popular poem by one of the central figures in the Harlem Renaissance, highlighting the courage and dignity of the African American Pullman porters in the early twentieth century.

Bused across town to a school in a white neighborhood of Boston in 1974, a young African American boy named Brewster describes his first day in first grade. Includes historical notes on the court-ordered busing.

Also available in Hoopla. Relates the story of the National Memorial African Bookstore, founded in Harlem by Louis Michaux in 1939, as seen from the perspective of Louis Michaux Jr., who met famous men like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X while helping there.

This biography picture-book shares the life story of Stephen Bishop, an explorer and slave who mapped the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, discovered new species of fish inside the cave, and gave regular tours through the cave.

For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

Chronicles the life of Dave, a nineteenth-century slave who went on to become an influential poet, artist, and potter.

Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963.

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. The story of Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician whose work was critical to the first US space flight.

A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse. An evocative poem and opulent watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life.

Also available in Overdrive. Paula Young Shelton shares her memories of the civil rights movement and her involvement in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

Illustrated versions of three well-known hymns.

Traces the history of the inspiring anthem and explains how it has come to represents the right for equality and freedom around the world.