CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

To print a CCBC booklist, click on a list below and then use your browser’s “Print” command.

Black Experiences: Affirmation and Resilience, Activism and Resistance in 45 Books for PreK-Grade 12

June 2020: We’ve received a number of requests from around Wisconsin for books addressing systemic racism. But just as important, we know, thanks to Black colleagues and book creators, are books that go beyond pain narratives and celebrate Black lives.

We also know that the work of seeking out and sharing books about Black experience is the responsibility of all of us doing work related to connecting young readers with books, not just of Black librarians and educators. But it’s important to know there are other wonderful curated lists available. Here are two to start with:

Black Joy Booklist (Alia Jones, Cincinnati Public Library) (focus: Black experience)
We Are Kidlit Collective summer reading lists(focus: Black, Indigenous and People of Color)

If you’re interested in purchasing books on any of these lists, check out this list of Black-owned bookstores.

By all means share the books on this list with white children, too; as a matter of course and intention sharing diverse books is essential. But if you are also looking specifically for books about race and racism, we have also created Race and Racism: Selected Books for Children and Teens.

Most of the books for this list are among titles we’ve recommended for our annual best-of-the-year list, CCBC Choices. It is far from exhaustive; there are many other books we’ve recommended, and many other books available for children and teens acknowledging that Black Lives Matter by celebrating and affirming Black identity and speaking the truth of Black experiences.

PreK - Grade 2

The King of Kindergarten
by Barnes, Derrick
Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 3-7

Soul Food Sunday
by Bingham, Winsome
Illustrated by C. G. Esperanza. Abrams, 2021. 40 pages. Ages 4-8

Me & Mama
by Cabrera, Cozbi A.
Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera. A Denene Millner Book/Simon & Schuster, 2020. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

All Because You Matter
by Charles, Tami
Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Orchard/Scholastic, 2020. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

My Hair Is Like Yours
by Detrick-Jules, St. Clair
Illustrated by Tabitha Brown. Chronicle, 2024. 20 pages. Ages 1-3

When Mama Braids My Hair
by Duncan, Monique
Sweet Pea, 2018. 32 pages. Ages 3-8

The Last Stand
by Eady, Antwan
Illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey. Alfred A. Knopf/Penguin Random House/Random House, 2024. 40 pages. Ages 6-9

We March
by Evans, Shane W.
Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook, 2012. 32 pages. Ages 5-9

Big
by Harrison, Vashti
Illustrated by Vashti Harrison. Little, Brown, 2023. 64 pages. Ages 4-8

My People
by Hughes, Langston
Illustrated by Charles R., Jr. Smith. Atheneum/Ginee Seo Books, 2009. 32 pages. Age 3 and older

A Girl Like Me
by Johnson, Angela
Illustrated by Nina Crews. Lerner/Millbrook, 2020. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

Black Is a Rainbow Color
by Joy, Angela
Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Roaring Brook, 2020. 40 pages. Ages 4-10

The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter
by Larkin, Shabazz
Illustrated by Shabazz Larkin. Readers to Eaters, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 2-7

Hands Up!
by McDaniel, Breanna J.
Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Dial/Penguin, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 4-9

Saturday
by Mora, Oge
Illustrated by Oge Mora. Little, Brown, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 3-8

Hey Black Child
by Perkins, Useni Eugene
Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Little, Brown, 2017. 32 pages. Ages 3-8

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children
by Pinkney, Sandra L.
Illustrated by Myles C. Pinkney. Scholastic, 2000. 28 pages. Ages 3-11

The Old Truck
by Pumphrey, Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey
Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey. Norton, 2020. 40 pages. Ages 18 months - 4 years

Mommy's Khimar
by Thompkins-Bigelow, Jamilah
Illustrated by Ebony Glenn. Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster, 2018. 32 pages. Ages 3-6

Grades 3 - 5

The Undefeated
by Alexander, Kwame
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Versify, 2019. 40 pages. Age 8 and older

The Proudest Blue
by Ali, S. K. and Ibtihaj Muhammad
Illustrated by Hatem Aly. Little, Brown, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood
by Alston, B.B. and Dean Atta, Jerry Craft, Jay Coles, P. Djeli Clark, Lamar Giles, Don P. Hooper, George M. Johnson, Varian Johnson, Kwame Mbalia, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Tochi Onyebuchi, Julian Randall, Jason Reynolds, Justin A. Reynolds, Davaun Sanders, Julian Winters
Delacorte, 2021. 296 pages. Ages 8-12

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
by Barnes, Derrick
Illustrated by Gordon C. James. A Denene Millner Book/Bolden, 2017. 32 pages. Ages 6-10

I Am Every Good Thing
by Barnes, Derrick
Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2020. 32 pages. Ages 4-10

Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis
by Cline-Ransome, Lesa
Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, 2024. 48 pages. Ages 6-10

New Kid
by Craft, Jerry
Illustrated by Jerry Craft. Harper, 2019. 249 pages. Ages 9-13

Blended
by Draper, Sharon M.
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2018. 308 pages. Ages 9-12

Dragons in a Bag
by Elliott, Zetta
Illustrated by Geneva B. Random House, 2018. 154 pages. Ages 7-10

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart
by Elliott, Zetta
Illustrated by Noa Denmon. Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan, 2020. 32 pages. Age 6-9

Not an Easy Win
by Giles, Chrystal D.
Random House, 2023. 245 pages. Ages 9-12

Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement
by Joy, Angela
Illustrated by Janelle Washington. Roaring Brook, 2022. 56 pages. Ages 8-12

Sing a Song: How "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Inspired Generations
by Lyons, Kelly Starling
Illustrated by Keith Mallett. Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2019. 32 pages. Ages 6-9

Ways to Make Sunshine
by Watson, Renee
Bloomsbury, 2020. 175 pages. Ages 8-10

How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee
by Weatherford, Carole Boston
Illustrated by Frank Morrison. Candlewick, 2023. 40 pages. Ages 6-9

Harbor Me
by Woodson, Jacqueline
Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2018. 176 pages. Ages 9-12

Grades 6 - 12

Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard
by Brown, Echo
Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, 2020. 294 pages. Age 14 and older

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life
by Bryan, Ashley
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2016. 56 pages. Age 9 and older

King and the Dragonflies
by Callender, Kacen
Scholastic Press, 2020. 259 pages. Ages 9-12

Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box
by Dionne, Evette
Penguin Random House/Viking, 2020. 170 pages. Age 12 and older

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices
compiled by Hudson, Cheryl Willis and Wade Hudson
Crown, 2018. 87 pages. Age 8 and older

March: Book One
by Lewis, John and Andrew Aydin
Illustrated by Nate Powell. Top Shelf, 2013. 121 pages. Age 12 and older

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People
by Magoon, Kekla
Candlewick, 2021. 390 pages. Age 12 and older

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy
by Medina, Tony
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and Floyd Cooper and Cozbi A. Cabrera and Skip Hill and Tiffany McKnight and Robert Liu-Trujillo and Keith Mallett and Shawn K. Alexander and Kesha Bruce and Brianna McCarthy and Ekua Holmes and Javaka Steptoe and Chandra Cox. Penny Candy, 2018. 40 pages. Age 8 and older

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
by Petrus, Junauda
Dutton/Penguin Random House, 2019. 308 pages. Age 14 and older

A Good Kind of Trouble
by Ramee, Lisa Moore
Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 2019. 358 pages. Ages 10-13

Piecing Me Together
by Watson, Renee
Bloomsbury, 2017. 264 pages. Age 12 and older

Black Girl You Are Atlas
by Watson, Renee
Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Kokila/Penguin Random House, 2024. 81 pages. Age 10 and older

Brown Girl Dreaming
by Woodson, Jacqueline
Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin, 2014. 336 pages. Age 10 and older

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
compiled by Zoboi, Ibi
Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 2019. 400 pages. Age 12 and older

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler
by Zoboi, Ibi
Dutton/Penguin Random House, 2022. 112 pages. Age 12 and older

Nigeria Jones
by Zoboi, Ibi
Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 2023. 369 pages. Age 14 and older

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.

Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.