Black History Month is right around the corner, and there are SO MANY great books out there to teach your students about African American heritage and history in this country. When I first started teaching, it seemed like every teacher knew really good books to read for every holiday, while I was left asking around everywhere. After years of talking to librarians, teachers and kids, here are, in my opinion, the best Black History Month read alouds!
If you’re looking for any other ideas for Black History Month for kids, I have a great resource page where you can access all of my ideas for your Black History Month celebration.
If you’re a member of the Picture Book Brain Trust Community, you already have access to EVERY lesson plan and activity for these books! Just click on the Lesson Plans button!
Check out the books:
So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt
This is a biography of the life of Sojourner Truth who had been known as Elizabeth when she was a slave in New York. She took her freedom from a master who had lied to her. The rest of her life was spent walking across the country talking about the injustice of slavery, women’s rights and a variety of other ideas. This story shows the unbreakable spirit of a woman wronged and lied to by many slave masters.
What makes this book worthy of being a top Black History Month read is the poetry and figurative language throughout the story that is both complex and comprehensible for even young learners. The illustrations are also very evocative and can leave the students with a lot to discuss.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
This is a poem written by Newbery Medal-winning author Kwame Alexander. It tells of the unshakeable grit of the African American experience in the United States. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations for this book won it both the 2019 Caldecott Medal and Coretta Scott King honors. Saying the the text or the illustrations are what carry this book would be to undercut what both do separately and together to make this powerful book.
The word choice in the title alone “The Undefeated” is enough to give you a taste of what Kwame Alexander does time and again throughout the text. This is a book that you’ll read and immediately want to go share it with your teacher friend (and promise to let them borrow it once you’ve read it to your class, of course).
Get my lesson plan and activities for The Undefeated HERE
Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
We could not have a list of the best books to read aloud during Black History Month without a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This one in particular is probably my favorite biography of this inspiring man. This story focuses on his recognition of and struggle to fight discrimination in a peaceful way.
What I like most about this book is how it does a good job of showing how he worked with many others to help promote change. So often MLK Jr. books leave students with the impression that he changed the laws in the United States, but this one shows his contributions to the movement. It also shows students how words can be “big” and powerful without being “big” and long.
Get my lesson plan and activities FREE below!
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
When you think of the Underground Railroad, you probably think of Harriet Tubman. You think about people guiding slaves North through fields and forests and hiding in houses and barns. This story is a tale of the Underground Railroad is not like that. Henry saw how he was torn from his family at the will of his master and how his family was taken from him by another master.
That’s when Henry had the ingenious idea of mailing himself in a box to freedom. With the help of a white man who was against slavery, he mailed himself to freedom in a box on carts, trains and ships all the way to Pennsylvania. Ellen Levine’s word choice in this book is perfect for inferring character feelings through close reading.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome
A beautiful, lyrical story of the Great Migration, the movement of more than 6 million Black citizens to the North from the rural South to escape sharecropping and other discrimination. A lesser known story of escaping the South with parallels to the Underground Railroad. The illustrations are beautiful and evocative. An eye-opening view that many students and even adults will likely not have heard of.
Get the lessons and activities for Overground Railroad HERE
Going Down Home With Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons
Another Caldecott Honor book is Going Down Home With Daddy. It is the story of a family reunion. Alan is going to his family’s multi-generational reunion. He’s worried, though, that he will be the only one who will not have anything to share with his Granny when all of his cousins do.
This story is one I love for boys. It is filled with positive role models and problem-solving strategies. It also touches on the family’s struggles from being taken as slaves through Jim Crow to the mighty family that they have been and continue to be. Alan finds, through his family’s experiences, the inspiration and strength to have something to share with his Granny.
Check out my lesson plan and activities for Going Down Home With Daddy HERE
Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
In stanzas of six lines each, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown’s story of how he came to send himself in a box from slavery to freedom. Strikingly illustrated in rich hues and patterns by artist Michele Wood, Box is augmented with historical records and an introductory excerpt from Henry’s own writing as well as a time line, notes from the author and illustrator, and a bibliography.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Box HERE
Above the Rim by Jen Bryant
Hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of basketball’s all-time-greatest players—an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. One of the first professional African-American players, he inspired others on and off the court. But when traveling for away games, many hotels and restaurants turned Elgin away because he was black. One night, Elgin had enough and staged a one-man protest that captured the attention of the press, the public, and the NBA. Above the Rim is a poetic, exquisitely illustrated telling of the life of an underrecognized athlete and a celebration of standing up for what is right.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Above the Rim HERE
All Because You Matter by Tami Charles
This powerful, rhythmic lullaby reassures readers that their matter and their worth is never diminished, no matter the circumstance: through the joy and wonder of their first steps and first laughs, through the hardship of adolescent struggles, and the pain and heartbreak of current events, they always have, and always will, matter.
Get the lesson plan and activities for All Because You Matter HERE
I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes
The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He’s got big plans, and no doubt he’ll see them through–as he’s creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he’s afraid, because he’s so often misunderstood and called what he is not. So slow down and really look and listen, when somebody tells you–and shows you–who they are. There are superheroes in our midst!
Get the lesson plan and activities for I Am Every Good Thing HERE
Salt In His Shoes: Michael Jordan In Pursuit Of a Dream by Deloris Jordan
This biographical piece about the greatest basketball player of all time was actually written by his mother and sister. It shows a young Michael Jordan, the youngest of his brothers, and how he wants most to be taller. If he were taller he would be better at basketball. His mother tells him that the key to growing taller is praying every night, practicing, and…putting salt in his shoes. He never grew taller, but his practicing paid off.
What I like most about this story is that Michael learns that practicing and working hard is more important than being tall. A great book that teaches growth mindset both literally and figuratively.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni and Bryan Collier
Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Rosa HERE
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill
This is the story of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc who helped create a new form of dance music: hip hop. This story is one of the more contemporary stories in this list and is really engaging to upper elementary students. Hip hop changed music as we know it and has influenced many other musical genres since like rap.
The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop by Carole Boston Weatherford
This book was published in 2019, and is simply amazing for upper elementary and middle school students with an interest for rap and hip-hop music. As of this writing, there is no beat to accompany this book that I’ve been able to find, but I guarantee that someone, somewhere will create a sick beat to accompany someone reading this book. The verse it is written in DEMANDS it. It gives a history of rap and hip-hop from, as the title says, their roots with wonderful illustrations that both the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King awards committees snubbed.
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford
Another wonderful book written in verse by Carole Boston Weatherford. It tells about New Orleans’s Congo Square became a place of hope and where slaves in New Orleans could feel free for even just part of a day. The story talks about slaves’ duties throughout the week and shows how they counted down the days until they could go to Congo Square to dance, meet and have an open market. An excellent book for grades 2-5 and for studying poetry.
Check out my lesson plan and activities for Freedom in Congo Square HERE
Islandborn by Junot Diaz
I really can’t say enough about this book. I first read it as part of my Picture Book a Day Challenge, and LOVED it. This book tells the story of a little known group of black Americans: Dominican Americans. Lola’s family emigrated to New York City from the island of the Dominican Republic. Lola gets an assignment from her teacher to draw a picture of where she is from. Her only problem is: she can’t remember what her island looks like.
I love this story because it tells of the history of why so many Dominicans emigrated to the United States and the suffering that they went through. It shows the importance of community and the magic of memory. A great springboard for talking about students’ cultural heritage. What’s more, it’s in Spanish also!
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
A wonderful biography for primary students about astronaut Mae Jemison. Mae was the first African American woman to travel to space. What I love most about this book for Black History Month, is that it focuses on her hard work and perseverance and the steps she took even as a child to reach her dreams. It also shows her parents’ encouragement and belief in their daughter making it perfect for school as well as a home read aloud.
Check out my lesson plan and activities for Mae Among the Stars HERE
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
This story is a perfect music teacher-classroom teacher collaboration book that includes the music and words for a song used on the Underground Railroad. For those that don’t know the tale, the drinking gourd is the Big Dipper and runaway slaves used to follow it North to freedom.
Jeanette Winter has a gift for writing children’s biographies that are both engaging and factual. Your students will love the musical connection along with the folklore included in the story with the old sailor. It’s a really good introduction book to the Underground Railroad yet still complex enough to study in depth.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
A book that focuses on the remarkable story of Mary Walker. She was a woman born into slavery in 1848, and lived to the ripe old age of 121 surviving 2 husbands and her 3 children. At the age of 114 she decided that she had lived too long to know nothing, so she fulfilled her lifelong ambition to learn to read a bible she had been given shortly after being freed from slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation. The book also focuses on the Freedmen’s Bureau and the difficulties of sharecropping.
A great book for grades K-3
Check out my lesson plan and activities for The Oldest Student HERE
Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker
Thanks to the popularity of the movie Hidden Figures, this book focuses on the mathematical genius of Katherine Johnson. She was one of NASA’s “human computers” who did the calculations necessary to ensure the safety of all crewmembers of Apollo 13 and prevented a tragedy. It tells of her struggles growing up and eventually her breaking barriers and becoming one of the most relied upon women in NASA.
A great biography for 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade!
Check out my lesson plan and activities for Counting on Katherine HERE
The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver by Gene Barretta
If it were for the illustrations alone, this book would be worth reading to your students. Gene Barretta’s words mixed with George Washington Carver’s own words make the book even better. An amazing story about the man born into slavery who became one of the most prominent agricultural experts in the nation’s history.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley
In the same vein as Counting On Katherine, this book also features African American female mathematicians who worked for NASA. It again features Katherine Johnson but also talks about Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. They were all some of NASA’s “colored computers” who did the calculations for some of NASA’s most important missions. It talks about how some astronauts refused to fly unless hearing that one of these women checked the numbers.
Great for grades 2-5 and especially to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM.
Check out my lesson plan and activities for Hidden Figures HERE
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
This is another more contemporary story. Though this story is not directly related to black history, it is still a perfect book for connecting learning to the civil rights movement. It tells a story from Patricia Polacco’s childhood in Oakland, California. Patricia, whose family were Russian immigrants, and her African American neighbors become family in a backyard ceremony. The three band together to try to earn money to buy Miss Eula Mae a beautiful Easter hat.
The kids run into trouble but their virtue and hard work gets them out of it in time to give Miss Eula Mae the hat on one of their “Chicken Sundays” where Miss Eula Mae cooked them chicken after church. This book is perfect for learning about different cultures and working together. If the civil rights movement had not happened, this story would not have been possible. Patricia Polacco’s descriptive language is perfect for study as well while reading this book.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
Lillian’s Right To Vote by Jonah Winter
Between Jeanette and Jonah Winter you could have an entire year of biography studies. This is one of the newer biographies based on the story of 100 year old Lillian Allen who at the ripe, young age of 100, voted for Barack Obama in 2008. As Lillian walks up the hill to her polling place, she remembers the generations of her family who had to go through many hardships to earn the right to vote and guarantee it for them.
Jonah Winter uses the hill that Lillian climbs as a symbol of the long climb to earn the right to vote. He includes key moments from the times of slavery to the civil rights movement all the way to 2008 when Lillian was able to vote for Barack Obama, something that had only been in her dreams. This story is perfect for talking about chronology and using a timeline to track key events. All of these elements make it one of the best Black History Month read alouds.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
A touching story of one of the first students to attend a desegregated school. Ruby was escorted y U.S. Marshals to school every day past crowds of people screaming at her and telling her that she did not belong. Despite all of the hate, what did Ruby do every day? She prayed for the people. The bravery of Ruby Bridges and the other students who attended the first desegregated the schools made it possible for us to have the schools we have today.
This book is great for studying character motivation and examining character traits.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby by Crystal Hubbard
This tells the story of jockey Jimmy “Wink” Winkfield and his amazing accomplishments at the Kentucky Derby. African American jockeys are inextricably linked to American horse racing from its roots until Wink became the last African American jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby due to discrimination and prejudice. This biography tells the story of Wink’s life from being born to sharecroppers in the 1880s until his retirement in France. A great lesser known story from American sports.
Check out my lesson plan and activities for The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby HERE
They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel
This is probably the most out of left field book in this list. The one book where you’re saying: What does this have to do with Black History Month? Absolutely nothing. There are no African American characters in the story. In fact, there’s only one actual person in this story. No, this story is about a cat and all of the animals who see it. More importantly, it shows how the different animals see the cat. It shows students the importance of perspective. Students see that despite it being one cat, everything sees the cat a different way. This is exactly how it is with people. People all see each other in different ways, but we’re all the same. A great, student-friendly way, to look at what people fought for for generations: to be seen the same.
Get my lesson plan and activities HERE
Did I miss any REALLY goo Black History Month read alouds?
These are just a few of the very best Black History Month read alouds that I’ve found. There may be more that I haven’t read yet. Do you know any better ones? Let me know in the comments!
Remember: If you need any other ideas for Black History Month for kids, I have a page of resources with all of my ideas for your Black History Month celebration.
Great choices! Love them all.
Thanks, Lisa! That means a lot coming from you! If you have any suggested additions, I’d love to hear them!