Black History Month 2020: 85 Picture Book Biographies by Black Authors

A well-known quote by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson is “those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” As the “Father of Black History,” Woodson was intentional about chronicling the achievements of Black people, believing that it would foster success in younger generations as well counter the negative images and stereotypes that inundated society. Read more about Woodson’s story in the picture book biography Carter G. Woodson: The Man Who Put “Black” in American History by Jim Haskins. Haskins’ book describes how Woodson came to study African-American history and founded “Negro History Week,” which led to Black History Month. The 85 picture book biographies listed offer great reading that feature well-known and lesser known historical and contemporary figures. Happy Black History Month and Happy Reading!

1. Althea Gibson: The Story of Tennis’ Fleet-of-Foot Girl

2. Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon

3. By and By: Charles Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music

4. The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne

5. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read

6. A Voice Named Aretha

7. Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball’s Negro Leagues

8. Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History

9. Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician

10. Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom

11. The Escape of Robert Smalls: A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery

12. A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice

13. Beyoncé: Shine Your Light

14. Let ‘er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion

15. I Am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon

16. Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride

17. Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins

18. A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks

19. Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver

20. The Journey of York: The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

21. The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just

22. No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas

23. Black Women Who Dared

24. Hammering for Freedom

25. Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-ins

26. Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams

27. Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present

28. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

29. Mae Among the Stars

30. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History

31. Before She Was Harriet

32. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library

33. Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee!

34. Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History

35. The Legendary Miss Lena Horne

36. Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

37. Preaching to the Chickens

38. Ticktock Banneker’s Clock

39. Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas

40. The Stone Thrower

41. Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong

42. My Story, My Dance: Robert Battle’s Journey to Alvin Ailey

43. Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton

44. Ira’s Shakespeare Dream

45. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

46. Jake Makes a World: Jacob Lawrence, A Young Artist in Harlem

47. Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America

48. Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century

49. Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

50. Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X

51. Nelson Mandela

52. Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington

53. Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills

54. It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw

55. Before There Was Mozart: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George

56. Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged

57. Clemente!

58. Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride

59. Racing Against the Odds: The Story of Wendell Scott, Stock Car Racing’s African-American Champion

60. I and I Bob Marley

61. Paul Robeson

62. Coretta Scott

63. Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

64. Howard Thurman’s Great Hope

65. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope

66. Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

67. I, Matthew Henson

68. Young Pele: Soccer’s First Star

69. John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement

70. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

71. Rosa

72. Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream

73. Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa

74. The Champ

75. Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist

76. Salt in His Shoes

77. Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman

78. Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa

79. Langston Hughes: American Poet

80. Ray Charles

81. Satchel Paige

82. Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra

83. Mary McLeod Bethune

84. Alvin Ailey

85. Zora Neale Hurston: Writer and Storyteller

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