Children's Books Featuring People of Color Where Race Is Not the Topic

Collection development is one of the most compelling activities of my job. I enjoy working during the quiet summer hours, catching up on book reviews and compiling my order lists. Although the library may look like it has a lot of random stuff, I spend considerable energy, thinking hard about what materials to buy and to weed. Outdated information about Pluto, dinosaurs, and "The USSR" -- out! One of my favorite weeding examples was of a biography of Nelson Mandela in which it claimed that no one can know what he looks like because he has been in prison for the last 25 years. Out!

Roger Sutton, editor of the children's literature magazine Horn Book, wrote in a recent blog about weeding a guide to collection development:
From Work with Children in Public Libraries by Effie L. Power (ALA, 1943):

"Nationality and race influence mode and type of reading and therefore library selection. Jewish boys and girls are inclined to read serious books on mature subjects, and Italian children who live most naturally out-of-doors under sunny skies read reluctantly but enjoy picture books, poetry, and fairy tales. German American children make wide use of books on handicrafts which Jewish children largely ignore and from which Italian children choose few except those related to arts, such as wood carving, metal designing, and painting. The Czech children read history and biography. Probably the greatest readers of fiction are found among native American children."

And of course the "native American children" are not Native American Indians. (Check out these hilarious shredders at Awful Library Books.)

Weeding nonfiction is more straightforward than weeding fiction. For fiction, the single biggest factor I look at is the depiction of race and ethnicity. The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, for example, lives on in the Paideia library despite the uncomfortable minstrel show and the epithets for Native American Indians. I talk to children about the time in which these works were written and the attitudes of white Americans of the period. Mitali Perkins, author of books for young adults and children, tackles the topic fearlessly in a recent article, "Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids' Books."

While it is profoundly important to have our library reflect the diverse history of America and the inspiring struggle for equality in both fiction and nonfiction, it is also essential to have stories featuring people of color who are just living their lives. What a pleasure to booktalk such titles to a group! Herewith are some of my favorite picture books for younger elementary children featuring people of color where race is not the subject of the book. Bravo!



Daddy Goes to Work by Jabari Asim and Aaron Boyd.
One Hot Summer Day. Neighborhood Mother Goose. You Are Here, all by Nina Crews.
My Aunt Came Back. Just Us Women.
Angel Baby. Harvey Moon, Museum Boy. Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon! Squashed in the Middle. Lulu's Birthday, all by Pat Cummings.
Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly.
Brian's Bird by Patricia Ann Davis.
No Mush Today by Sally Derby.
Bintou's Braids by Sylviane Diouf.
Shop Talk by Juwanda Ford.
A Young Dancer: the Life of an Alvin Ailey Student by Valerie Gladstone and Jose Ivey.
Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis by Robin Gourley.
Friendly Four by Eloise Greenfield and Jan Spivey Gilchrist.
Brianna and Jamaica. Jamaica and the Blue Marker. Jamaica and the Subtitute Teacher. Jamaica Tag-Along. Brianna, Jamaica and the Dance of Spring. Jamaica's Find, all by Juanita Havill.
Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman.
My People by Langston Hughes and Charles R. Smith.
Lily Brown's Paintings. Daddy Calls Me Man. Tell Me a Story, Mama. Joshua by the Sea, all by Angela Johnson.
The Secret Olivia Told Me by N. Joy.
My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa Molel.
Ron's Big Mission by Corinne Naden and Rose Blue.
Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nelson.
Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life by Jerdine Nelson.
Ready, Set, Raymond! by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway.
You're Not My Best Friend Anymore by Charlotte Pomerantz.
The New Girl -- And Me by Jacqui Robbins.
My Best Friend by Mary Ann Rodman.
Amadi's Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-Lot.
Elizabeti's Doll by Elizabeth Stuve-Bodeen.
Bippity Bop Barbershop by Natasha Tarpley.
Little Cliff's First Day of School. Little Cliff and the Cold Place. Little Cliff and the Porch People, all by Clifton Taulbert.
When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat by Muriel Harris Weinstein.