15 Picture Books that Celebrate Black History Month

February is Black History Month. It is an excellent time to reflect on United States history and the amazing contributions African-Americans have made to our collective culture, identity, and experience. I personally love picture books that inform as well as entertain. I think they're a great way for even the youngest readers to learn about history and those who came before us. The following fifteen books cover various time periods in African American history, from the pre-Civil War days of slavery, through Reconstruction, the Jim Crow Era, and the Civil Rights Movement, to the present day. Most of these books are available to check out at the Mississippi Library Commission or your local public library.

Smoky Night
Eve Bunting and David Díaz
1994
Set during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, California, a young boy and his mother flee their apartment for the sanctuary of a nearby shelter and unexpectedly make new bonds with their neighbors.

Granddaddy's Gift
Margaree King Mitchell and Larry Johnson
1997
Set in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi, a grandfather shows his little granddaughter the importance of education and the power of standing up for what you believe in.

Freedom School, Yes!
Amy Littlesugar and Floyd Cooper
2001
Set during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom School Summer Project, a young girl and her family host a visiting teacher.

Freedom Summer
Deborah Wiles and Jerome Lagarrigue
2001
Set during 1964's Freedom Summer in the South, two little boys, one black and one white, have a special friendship that they hope will be allowed to grow even more when segregation is gone.

The Other Side
Jacqueline Woodson and E.B. Lewis
2001
Set in the segregated South, two young girls, one black and one white, push at the boundaries of their divided town.

Show Way
Jacqueline Woodson and Hudson Talbott
2005
This multi-generational story starts when slavery still exists in the South and runs through Civil Rights Movement to the present. Covers the topic of quilt making, especially in regards to using quilts as a way to pass secret messages.

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom
Tim Tingle and Jeanne Rorex Bridges
2006
Set in Mississippi before the Civil War, a young Choctaw girl and her village help an enslaved family escape to freedom.

Ruth and the Green Book
Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Floyd Cooper
2010
Set in the South during the Jim Crow Era, Ruth and her family travel from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandmother and rely on the Green Book to show them safe places to shop and stay.

These Hands
Margaret Mason and Floyd Cooper
2011
Set in the present, a grandfather recalls the prejudice and discrimination he faced in the 1960s.

Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom
Shane W. Evans
2011
Set before the Civil War, this nearly wordless picture book gives a good introduction of the Underground Railroad.

Ellen's Broom
Kelly Starling Lyons and Daniel Minter
2012
Set during Reconstruction, a young girl's parents are officially married. Covers the topic of jumping the broom.

I, Too, Am America
Langston Hughes and Bryan Collier
2012
From the poem first published by Langston Hughes in 1926, this book introduces the poem that details the oppression of African-Americans.

A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream
Kristy Dempsey and Floyd Cooper
2014
Set in Harlem in the 1950s, a young girl dreams of being a dancer like the first African-American prima ballerina, Janet Collins.

Juneteenth for Mazie
Floyd Cooper
2015
Set in the present, a young girl learns about Juneteenth.

The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
Pat Zietlow Miller and Frank Morrison
2016

Set in Clarksville, Tennessee, several little girls idolize Wilma Rudolph, who is being honored in a hometown parade.










Join us later this month for more book lists that celebrate Black History Month. Until next time, happy reading!