Social Justice Children's Literature

Teaching about Race
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A Resource List of Children’s Literature Ages 3-12

• All the Colors We Are by: Katie Kissinger
• Happy in Our Skin by: Fran Manushkin
• I Love My Hair by: Natasha Tarpley
• Let’s Talk About Race by: Julius Lester
• My Nose, Your Nose by: Melanie Walsh
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
• Skin Again by: bell hooks
• Shades of People by: Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly
• The Sneetches and Other Stories  by: Dr. Seuss
• This Is the Rope: A Story From the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson
• Chocolate Me! By Taye Diggs
• Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
• Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad? By Sandy Lynne Holeman
• Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia C. McKissack
• Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson
• Mr. Lincoln’s Way by Patricia Polacco
• Desmond and the Very Mean Word by Archbishop Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams
• The Other Side by Jaceuqline Woodson
• Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue
• The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
• Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh
• The Colors of Us by: Karen Katz
• The Skin You Live In by: Michael Tyler
• We Are All Alike… We Are All Different by: Cheltenham Elementary Kindergartners
• The Shades of People by: Shelley Rotner & Shelia M. Kelly
• Freedom Over Me by: Ashley Bryan
• Thunder Boy Junior by Sherman Alexie
• Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote by Duncan Tonatiuh
• A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts
• The Colors of Us by: Karen Katz
• City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
• Suitcase by Mildred Pitts Walter
• The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake
• The Jacket by Andrew Clements
• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Dream Keeper and other poems by Langston Hughes
• The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Cay by Theodore Taylor
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• One Crazy Summer by Rita-Williams-Garcia
• The Year of the Dog and the Year of the Rat by Grace Lin
• Ghost by Jason Reynolds
• The Thing about Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Ambassador by William Alexander
• Bronx Masquerade by Nicki Grimes
• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

 
The Civil Rights Movement

• Child of the Civil Rights Movement by: Paula Young Shelton
• Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights by: Jim Haskins
• Freedom Summer by: Deborah Wiles
• Goin’ Someplace Special by: Patricia C. McKissack
• New Shoes by: Susan Lynn Meyer
• Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by: Ruby Bridges
• Separate is Never Equal by: Duncan Tonatiuh
• The Other Side by: Jacqueline Woodson
• The Story of Ruby Bridges by: Robert Coles
• This is the Dream by: Diane Z. Shore & Jessica Alexander
• White Socks Only by: Evelyn Coleman
• Back of the Bus by Aaron Renyolds
• White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman
• White Water by Michael Bandy and Eric Stein

 
Taking Action: Protests, Boycotts, Marches

• A Sweet Smell of Roses by: Angela Johnson
• Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins by: Carole Boston Weatherford
• Ron’s Big Mission by: Rose Blue
• Rosa by: Nikki Giovanni
• Sit-in: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by: Andrea Davis Pinkney
• The Youngest Marcher by: Cynthia Levinson
• We March by: Shane Evans
• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
• Grace for President by Kelly Dipucchio
• Harvesting for Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
• A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

Social Class, Poverty & Privilege

• The Relatives Came by: Cynthia Rylant
• Tight Times by: Barbara Shook Hazen
• Something Beautiful  by: Sharon Dennis Wyeth
• Those Shoes by: Meredith Boelts
• A Castle on Viola Street by: Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
• A Chair for My Mother  by: Vera B. Williams
• Amelia’s Road by: Linda Jacobs Altman
• Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBriar
• Get Set! Swim! By Jeannine Atkins
• Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by: Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
• Gettin’ Through Thursday  by: Melrose Cooper
• Fly Away Home  by: Eve Bunting
• My Rows and Piles of Coins by: Tololwa Mollel
• Sam and the Lucky Money by: Karen Chinn
• The Rag Coat by: Lauren Mills
• The Family Under the Bridge
• Brave Irene  by: William Steig
• Going Home  by: Eve Bunting
• Esperanza Rising by: Pam Munoz Ryan
• Out of the Dust (The Great Depression)
• Finding a Job for Daddy  by: Evelyn Hughes Masiac
• Gregory Cool  by: Caroline Binch
• Listen to the Wind, The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & Susan Roth
• Rich Cat, Poor Cat  by: Bernhard Waber
• Somebody’s New Pajamas by: Isaac Jackson
• The Sneetches by: Dr. Seuss
• Tomas and the Library Card by: Pat Mora
• Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

Gender/LGBT

• Players in Pigtails by: Shana Corey
• Amazing Grace by: Mary Hoffman
• Oliver Button Is a Sissy by: Tomie dePaola
• William’s Doll by: Charlotte Zolotow
• Max the Stubborn Little Wolf by: Marie-Odile Judes
• Piggybook by: Anthony Browne
• The Gingerbread Girl by: Lisa Campbell Ernst
• And Tango Makes Three by: Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
• The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein
• The Different Dragon by Jennifer Bryan
• It’s Okay to Be Different by: Todd Parr
• Spoon by: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• We Are All Alike...We Are All Different by: Sheltenham Elementary

Differences/Acceptance of Others who are Different from Us

• S – Crazy Lady
• O – The Hundred Dresses
• Creativity by E.B. Lewis
• The Story of Ferdiand by: Munro Leaf
• Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg
• The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater
• Tacky the Penguin series by Helen Lester and Lynn M. Munsinger
• I Like Me! By Nancy Carlson

Ability/Disability

• Freak the Mighty by: Rodman Philbrick
• Yolanda’s Genius
• The View from Saturday by: E.L. Konigsburg
• The Summer of the Swans

Families

• The Wednesday Surprise by: Eve Bunting
• I Love Saturdays y Domingos by: Alma Flor Ada
• Two Mrs. Gibsons by: Toyomi Igus
• Visiting Day by: Jacqueline Woodson
• The Family Book by: Todd Parr

Immigrant Experience

• In the Small, Small Night by Jane Kurtz
• My Diary from Here to There by Amada Irma Perez
• My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits
• Hannah is My Name by Belle Yang
• The Color of Home by Mary Hoffman
• The Have a Good Day Cafe by Frances Park
• One Green Apple by: Eve Bunting
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• A Gift for Sadia by Marie Perry
• America, My New Home by: Monica Gunning (poems)
• Cooper’s Lesson by Sun Yung Shin
• Fishing Sunday by Tony Johnston
• In English, Of Course by Josephine Nobisso
• Just Like Home by: Elizabeth Miller
• Lakas and the Manilatown Fish by Kuwento Robles
• Music for Alice by Allen Say
• My Name is Bilal by: Asama Mobin-Uddin
• Sofie and the City by Karima Grant
• Sumi’s First Day of School Ever by Soyung Pak
• The Dream on Blanca’s Wall by: Jane Medina
• Waiting for Papa by Rene Colato Lainez

War/Peace

• 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy
• Number the Stars
• No Pretty Pictures
• What Does Peace Feel Like? By: V. Radunsky
• Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss
• Peace Crane by Sheila Hamanaka
• The Big Book for Peace by Lloyd Alexander
• The Peace Book by Todd Parr
• Click here for a Peace Studies Text Set compiled for ESJ by Karime Calle Diaz.

Bullying

• The Meanest Thing to Say by: Bill Cosby
• The Sandwich Swap by: Queen Rania, Al Abdullah, Kelly DiPucchio
• Chrysanthemum by: Kevin Henkes
• Hooway for Wodney Wat by: Helen Lester
• Yoko by: Rosemary Wells
• The Name Jar by: Yangsook Choi
• Dork in Disguise
• Stargirl by: Jerry Spinelli
• Each Kindness by: Jacqueline Woodson
• Say Something by: Peggy Moss

For many more social justice-oriented children’s booklists: www.socialjusticebooks.org