No matter if your child sits on your lap and listens to you read or digs in to novels on their own, there are books to teach them about African American history and culture. Here’s a list of books from the librarians at Denver Public Library to share with your child.
Picture Books
Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs, and Stories from an African American Childhood by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
We March by Shane W. Evans
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Early/Middle
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, illustrated by Don Tate
Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Teen
How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson
March Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell
X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon
Also look for How to Build a Museum: Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture by Tonya Bolden. The book is filled with images and stories related to the development of the newest Smithsonian museum. Use it to uncover topics, events, and people significant to African American history that your family could read, and learn, more about.
