Search Our Database of Nearly 2,000 Diverse Picture Books

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.

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Josias, hold the book

2006

by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren and Nicole Tadgell

Each day Chrislove asks his friend Josias when he will "hold the book,"; or join them at school, but Josias can only think of tending the bean garden so that his family will have enough food

Calling the water drum

2016

by LaTisha Redding and Aaron Boyd

"A young boy loses both parents as they attempt to flee Haiti for a better life, and afterward is only able to process his grief and communicate with the outside world through playing the drums. Includes author's note"-- |cProvided by publisher

Radiant child

2016

by Javaka Steptoe

Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art work had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message and art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful

I Came from the Water: One Haitian Boy’s Incredible Tale of Survival

2012

by Vanita Oelschlager and Mike Blanc

Tells the story of a young boy who was swept down the river and lost his family when Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti in 2004 and then ended up in an orphanage where he weathered the 2010 earthquake, in a work based on actual events.

Hope for Haiti

2010

by Jesse Joshua. Watson

As the dust settled on Port-au-Prince, hope was the last thing anybody could see. When the earth shook, his whole neighborhood disappeared. Now a boy and his mother are living in the soccer stadium, in a shelter made of tin and bedsheets, with long lines for food and water. But even with so much sorrow all around, he finds a child playing with a soccer ball made of rags. Soon many children are caught up in the magic of the game that transports them out of their bleak surroundings and into a world where anything is possible. Then the kids are given a truly wonderful gift. A soccer ball might seem simple, but really it's a powerful link between a heartbroken country's past and its hopes for the future. Jesse Joshua Watson has created an inspiring testament to the strength of the Haitian people and the promise of children.

Mama’s nightingale

2015

by Edwidge Danticat and Leslie Staub

When Saya's mother is sent to jail as an illegal immigrant, she sends her daughter a cassette tape with a song and a bedtime story, which inspires Saya to write a story of her own--one that just might bring her mother home

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