With racial and social injustice tensions at an all-time high this summer, many are seeking to learn more on the subject, and are asking how to approach the topic with their children. We reached out to our friends at the North Cobb Regional Library for age-appropriate book recommendations on these topics.
According to the children and youth services team at the North Cobb Regional Library, when educating children about racism, it is fundamental for caregivers to first educate themselves. The library staff strongly recommends that caregivers research the #OwnVoices movement and seek out #OwnVoices works for themselves and their children. The term #OwnVoices refers to authors from marginalized or under-represented groups writing about characters from those same groups.
Remember, the North Cobb Regional Library also offers titles in eBook and audiobook.
Young Children (ages 0-5)
“Let’s Talk About Race” by Julius Lester
“Skin Again” by bell hooks
“Anti-Racist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi
“Shades of People” by Shelley Rotner
“The Skin You Live In” by Michael Tyler
Children (ages 5-12)
“Something Happened in Our Town”
by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard
“Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship” by Charles Waters and Irene Latham
“Intersection-Allies: We Make Room for All”
by Carolyn Choi and Chelsea Johnson
“We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices” edited
by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
“Harbor Me” by Jacqueline Woodson
Teens (ages 12-18)
“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You”
by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
“A Good Kind of Trouble” by Lisa Moore Remeé
“Watch Us Rise” by Renee Watson
“All American Boys” by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds
“Dear Martin” by Nic Stone
Leave a Reply