Books to Spark Conversations about Race

Books to Spark Conversations About Race

Picture books can teach lifelong lessons about identity, feelings, friendship, and other aspects of social and emotional learning. Here are a few great titles that families can read to spark conversation about race and racism. Follow the links to get a copy for your home library from our friends at First Book.

The Day You Begin

By Jacqueline Woodson (Author), Rafael López (Illustrator)

There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it’s how you look or talk, or where you’re from; maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. (Also available in Spanish!)

First Book Marketplace (for teachers)

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Your Name is a Song

By Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow (Author), Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)

Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl’s mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city.

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The Proudest Color

By Sheila Modir and Jeffrey Kashou (Author), Monica Mikai (Illustrator)

Zahra sees the world in vivid color. When she’s happy, she feels a razzle-dazzle pink in her hands. When she’s sad, she feels a deep blue behind her eyes. But she isn’t quite sure how to feel about the color of her skin. Kids at school tell her she is different, but her mother tells her to be proud!

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Isabel and Her Colores Go to School

By Alexandra Alessandri (Author), Courtney Dawson (Illustrator)

English, with its blustery blues and whites, just feels wrong to Isabel. She prefers the warm oranges and pinks of Spanish. As she prepares for class at a new school, she knows she’s going to have to learn–and she would rather not! Her first day is uncomfortable, until she discovers there’s more than one way to communicate with friends. This is a universal story about feeling new and making new friends.

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I Am Enough

By Grace Byers (Author), Keturah A. Bobo (Illustrator)

This gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another comes from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo. We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.

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The Undefeated

By Kwame Alexander (Author), Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present.

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A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart

By Zetta Elliott (Author), Noa Denmon (Illustrator)

Summertime is filled with joy–skateboarding and playing basketball—until his community is deeply wounded by a police shooting. As fall turns to winter and then spring, fear grows into anger, then pride and peace. In her stunning debut, illustrator Noa Denmon articulates the depth and nuances of a child’s experiences following a police shooting–through grief and protests, healing and community–with washes of color as vibrant as his words. Here is a groundbreaking narrative that can help all readers–children and adults alike–talk about the feelings hiding deep inside each of us.

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Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 200 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income communities in all 50 states and provinces in Canada. First Book currently reaches an average of 5 million children every year and supports more than a third of the estimated 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving children in need. First Book members work in classrooms, after school, and summer or early childhood programs, shelters and health clinics, libraries, community programs, military support programs, and other settings serving a majority of children in need.