Our collection of picture books featuring Black and Indigenous Peoples and People of Color (BIPOC) is available to the public.
*Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL a recommendation.*
Click here for more on book evaluation.
Find titles using a keyword search below (e.g. adoption, birthday, holidays, etc.), or by selecting one or a combination of filters on the left-hand sidebar below.
12 matching books
Show Filters- 1
- 2
African Town
“In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria were captured and brought to Mobile, Alabama aboard a ship called Clotilda. Their journey includes the savage Middle Passage and being hidden in the swamplands along the Alabama River before being secretly parceled out to various plantations, where they made desperate attempts to maintain both their culture and also fit into the place of captivity to which they’d been delivered. At the end of the Civil War, the survivors created a community for themselves they called African Town, which still exists to this day. Told in 14 distinct voices, including that of the ship that brought them to the American shores and the founder of African Town, this powerfully affecting historical novel-in-verse recreates a pivotal moment in US and world history, the impacts of which we still feel today.” — publisher
You Owe Me One, Universe
“Brian knows that anxiety and depression aren’t things that are magically fixed overnight, but he still doesn’t understand why it’s all hitting him so hard right now. Sure, his dad is still in prison and middle school is still stressful, but he’s seeing a therapist, he’s got good friends, and he’s doing really well on the basketball team. He should be fine, so why does he feel too tired to get out of bed some days? And why does he turn into “Cursed Monster Brian” and snap whenever someone asks him what’s wrong? Ezra is trying his best to look out for Brian, but he’s not sure that he’s actually helping. Sure, they’re still best friends, but as Ezra starts preparing for the talent show, he also starts talking with Victor—the kid who relentlessly bullied Brian last year. It seems like Victor’s changed, and whenever he and Ezra hang out and make music together, Ezra’s stomach feels a little bit swoopy. But even if he likes making music and talking with Victor, he still feels like he’s betraying his best friend whenever they’re together. And he worries that he’s falling for another boy who won’t return his feelings . . .” — publisher
Not Talking About You
“Khalil, a young Black boy, starts at a new school and is excited to join the basketball team–until he begins to experience and witnesses subtle and not-so-subtle forms of racism among his new teammates. Khalil struggles with how to react and stand up for himself and others against his new friends who have taken him in.”–publisher
Two Degrees
“Fire. Ice. Flood. Three climate disasters. Four kids fighting for their lives. Akira is riding her horse in the California woods when a wildfire sparks–and grows scarily fast. How can she make it to safety when there are flames everywhere? Owen and his best friend, George, are used to seeing polar bears on the snowy Canadian tundra. But when one bear gets way too close for comfort, do the boys have any chance of surviving? Natalie hunkers down at home as a massive hurricane barrels toward Miami. When the floodwaters crash into her house, Natalie is dragged out into the storm–with nowhere to hide. Akira, Owen, George, and Natalie are all swept up in the devastating effects of climate change. They are also connected in ways that will shock them–and could alter their destinies forever.” — publisher
Those Pink Mountain Nights
“Overachievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side? Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl. People at school label Jessie a tease, a rich girl—and honestly, she’s both. But Jessie knows she contains multitudes. Maybe her new job crafting pizzas will give her the high-energy outlet she desperately wants. When the weekend at Pink Mountain Pizza takes unexpected turns, all three teens will have to acknowledge the various ways they’ve been hurt—and how much they need each other to hold it all together.” — publisher
One Summer in Whitney Pier
“School is out for the summer, but eleven-year-old Mayann Francis doesn’t have much to look forward to. Her two best friends, Eunice and Betty, will be away and her older sister won?t let her play on her baseball team, the Hankard Street Crew. But Mayann’s parents won’t let her feel sorry for herself. They remind her how much she loves to help them cook traditional Caribbean foods. Coo-coo with corn meal, souse made from pig feet, oxtail, fishcake, johnnycake, sugar cake with coconut! Her mother also teaches her embroidery — and it’s while stitching a project and watching the HSC play that she gets a great idea that will bring the whole community together, and may just save her summer in the process.” — publisher
Friend on the Freedom River
“On a cold December night, Louis must decide whether to brave the treacherous Detroit River to take a slave family to freedom.” — publisher
Africville
"When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she’s heard from her family come to mind. She imagines what the community was once like–the brightly painted houses nestled into the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge bonfires"–|cProvided by publisher
Malaika’s winter carnival
Nadia L. Hohn’s prose, written in a blend of standard English and Caribbean patois, tells a warm story about the importance of family, especially when adjusting to a new home. Readers of the first Malaika book will want to find out what happens when she moves to Canada, and will enjoy seeing Malaika and her family once again depicted through Irene Luxbacher’s colorful collage illustrations.– Provided by Publisher
No two snowflakes
One Christmas afternoon, Lou in Canada writes to Araba, his pen pal in an unnamed tropical country, to explain to her what snow is. In free verse, he describes it by moonlight, in the late day, and in the muddy spring. His catalog of enjoyments includes tobogganing; packing snowballs; and making forts, igloos, and snow angels- all activities that most northerners will recognize, but few tropical dwellers may picture without explanation.
- 1
- 2
