Our intention is to acquire and make available ALL picture books featuring indigenous people and people of color published in the U.S. since 2002, including reprints. Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL recommendation. See our related readings page for suggested links for evaluating books.
The youngest marcher
Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this picture book that proves you're never too little to make a difference. Nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks intended to go places and do things like anybody else. So when she heard grown-ups talk about wiping out Birmingham's segregation laws, she spoke up. As she listened to the preacher's words, smooth as glass, she sat up tall. And when she heard the plan -- picket those white stores! March to protest those unfair laws! Fill the jails!--she stepped right up and said, I'll do it! She was going to j- a-a-il!
The people shall continue
"The People Shall Continue was originally published in 1977. It is a story of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, specifically in the U.S., as they endeavor to live on lands they have known to be their traditional homelands from time immemorial. Even though the prairies, mountains, valleys, deserts, river bottomlands, forests, coastal regions, swamps and other wetlands across the nation are not as vast as they used to be, all of the land is still considered to be the homeland of the people"--Foreword
Frederick’s journey
Traces Frederick Douglass's journey from slavery to international renown as writer and lecturer
The great expedition of Lewis and Clark
An account, told in the words of one participant, of the difficulties and wonders that were part of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the land obtained as part of the Louisiana Purchase
Jemmy Button
Provides a fictionalized account of Jemmy Button, a native boy from Tierra del Fuego who was brought to London to be educated and then returned home to his island
Mississippi morning
Amidst the economic depression and the racial tension of the 1930s, a boy discovers a horrible secret of his father's involvement in the Ku Klux Klan. It was 1933 and life was good for James William. Piece by piece, however, his comfortable life begins to unravel. First he learns that the burning of a black man's house was not accidental. Then his fishing buddy LeRoy tells him about the hanging tree and the Klan. Though he accepts that blacks and whites can't drink from the same fountains because "that's the way it is," James William can't believe that racial hatred exists in his own community until he comes face to face with a Klan member. A thought- provoking story of one boy's loss of naivete in the face of harsh historical realities, Mississippi Morning will challenge young readers to question their own assumptions and confront personal decisions
When I was eight
This book chronicles the unbreakable spirit of an Inuit girl while attending an Arctic residential school
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull (c. 1831-1890) was one of the greatest Lakota /Sioux warriors and chiefs who ever lived. From Sitting Bull's childhood -- killing his first buffalo at age 10 -- to being named war chief to leading his people against the U.S. Army, this book brings the story of the great chief to light. Sitting Bull was instrumental in the war against the invasive wasichus (white men) and was at the forefront of the combat, including the Battles of Killdeer Mountain and the Little Bighorn. He and Crazy Horse were the last Lakota/Sioux to surrender their people to the U.S. government and resort to living on a reservation
Beacon to freedom
Tells the story of nineteenth century abolitionist Reverend John Rankin and his brave early efforts working as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, risking his safety and the safety of his family to help nearly two thousand slaves escape from Kentucky to Ohio
Lila and the crow
Lila has just moved to a new town and can't wait to make friends at school. But on the first day, a boy points at her and shouts: "A crow! A crow! The new girl's hair is black like a crow!" The others whisper and laugh, and Lila's heart grows as heavy as a stone. The next day, Lila covers her hair. But this time, the boy points at her dark skin. When she covers her face, he mocks her dark eyes. Now every day at school, Lila hides under her turtleneck, dark glasses, and hat. And every day when she goes home, she sees a crow who seems to want to tell her something. Lila ignores the bird and even throws rocks at it, but it won't go away. Meanwhile, the great autumn festival is approaching. While the other kids prepare their costumes, Lila is sadder and lonelier than ever. At her lowest point of despair, a magical encounter with the crow opens Lila's eyes to the beauty of being different, and gives her the courage to proudly embrace her true self