This article is a repost (with 28 new books!)
It’s that time of the year to celebrate and educate, just like Carter G. Woodson intended! Do you know Chef Edna Lewis, Wendell Scott, Jennifer Jones, Major Taylor, Jackie Ormes, or Rosetta Tharpe? They are not the usual figures that children or adults learn about and discuss during Black History Month. This list of picture book biographies will introduce young readers to some extraordinary Black women and men who made history in various fields. All the books listed are written by Black authors. For more books that celebrate us, see Confident You!: 45 Picture Books for Black History Month and Picture Books about Family, Food, and Friends!.
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Becoming a Ballerina: The Story of Michaela Mabinty DePrince
Laura Obuobi | Olivia Duchess | HarperCollins | January 21, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds
Nancy Johnson James | Diana Ejaita | Abrams BYR | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Make Your Mark: The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist
Jacci Gresham | Sherry Fellores | David Wilkerson | Dial Books | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Let’s Fly!: Barrington Irving’s Record-Breaking Flight Around the World
Barrington Irving | Chana Stiefel | Shamar Knight-Justice | Dial Books | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Greatness
Regis Bethencourt | Kahran Bethencourt | Little, Brown BYR | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
How Sweet the Sound
Kwame Alexander | Charly Palmer | Little, Brown BYR | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The ABCs of Women’s History
Rio Cortez | Lauren Semmer | Workman | January 14, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children’s Music
Traci N. Todd | Eleanor Davis | Chronicle Books | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark
Allen R. Wells | DeAndra Hodge | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher
Ruby Bridges | Trudy Tran | Orchard | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Maya Angelou: A Little Golden Book Biography
Anne Wynter | Courtney Lovett | Golden Books | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Daniel Minter | Little, Brown BYR | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer
Quartez Harris | Gordon C. James | Little, Brown | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Claudette Colvin: I Want Freedom Now!
Claudette Colvin | Phillip Hoose | Bea Jackson | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | November 12, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Cicely
Renée Watson | Sherry Shine | Amistad BYR | November 5, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Willie Mays: A Little Golden Book Biography
Anne Wynter | Bea Jackson | Golden Books | October 29, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Black Artists Shaping the World
Sharna Jackson | Marilyn Esther Chi | Zoé Whitley | Thames & Hudson | October 22, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice
Jay Leslie | Loveis Wise | Zando – Hillman Grad Books | October 22, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Stokes: The Brief Career of the NBA’s First Black Superstar
Ty Chapman | John Coy | Lonnie Olivierre | Lerner/Millbrook | October 1, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A Voice of Hope: The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story
Nadia Salomon | London Ladd | Philomel Books | September 24, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
LeBron James: A Little Golden Book Biography
Shasta Clinch | Kingsley Nebechi | Golden Books | September 3, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples | Carole Boston Weatherford | Steffi Walthall | Rocky Pond Books | July 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Go, Wilma, Go!
Amira Rose Davis | Michael G. Long | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Bloomsbury | July 16, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Freedom on the Sea: The True Story of the Civil War Hero Robert Smalls and His Daring Escape to Freedom
Michael Boulware Moore | Bryan Collier | Godwin Books | May 28, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Let Us March On!: James Weldon Johnson and the Silent Protest Parade
Yohuru Williams | Michael G. Long | Xia Gordon | Atheneum BYR | May 28, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Muhammad Ali (A Little Golden Book Biography)
Frank Berrios | Ken Daley | Golden Books | May 7, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Outspoken: Paul Robeson Ahead of His Time: A One-Man Show
Carole Boston Weatherford | Eric Velasquez | Candlewick | April 30, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A Crown of Stories: The Life and Language of Beloved Writer Toni Morrison
Carole Boston Weatherford | Khalif Thompson | Quill Tree Books | April 2, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair
Lisa D. Brathwaite | Lynn Gaines | Lee & Low Books | February 6, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller
Breanna J. McDaniel | April Harrison | Dial | February 6, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Jimmy’s Rhythm and Blues
Michelle Meadows | Jamiel Law | HarperCollins | January 30, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Extraordinary Magic: The Writing Life of Virginia Hamilton
Nina Crews | Christy Ottaviano Books/Little Brown | January 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis
Lesa Cline-Ransome | James Ransome | Paula Wiseman Books | January 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote
Dinah Johnson | Jerry Jordan | Little, Brown/Ottaviano | January 2, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Colin Powell: A Little Golden Book Biography
Frank Berrios | Kristin Sorra | Golden Books | January 2, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King | Barbara Reynolds | Ekua Holmes | Godwin Books | January 2, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Born Driven
Saxton Moore Jr. | Nolwe Azul Tamis | Oni Press | November 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson | Alex Bostic | Lerner/Carolrhoda | November 7, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Oprah Winfrey: A Little Golden Book Biography
Alliah L. Agostini | Tara Nicole Whitaker | Golden Books | November 7, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele
Valerie June Hockett | Marcela Avelar | Third Man Books | November 1, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
On the Line: My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette
Jennifer Jones | Lissette Norman | Robert Paul, Jr. | HarperCollins | October 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City That Grew Prince Rogers Nelson
Angela Joy | Jacqueline Alcántara | Roaring Brook Press | October 24, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Heroic Heart: An Illustrated Biography of Joe Delaney
Frank Murphy | Charnaie Gordon | Anastasia Magloire Williams | Triumph Books | October 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King
Alice Faye Duncan | R. Gregory Christie | Calkins Creek | September 26, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Legends of Hip-Hop: 2Pac (Board Book)
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperFestival | September 19, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Legends of Hip-Hop: Queen Latifah
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperFestival | September 19, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Loud and Proud: The Life of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
Lesa Cline-Ransome | Kaylani Juanita | Paula Wiseman Books | September 19, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Major Taylor: World Cycling Champion
Charles R. Smith | Leo Espinosa | Candlewick | September 12, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball
Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir | Judith Henderson | Katherine Ahmed | Kids Can Press | September 5, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Justice Ketanji: The Story of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Denise Lewis Patrick | Kim Holt | Orchard Books | August 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ketanji: Justice Jackson’s Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court
Kekla Magoon | Laura Freeman | HarperCollins | June 20, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist
Liz Montague | Random House Studio | May 16, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Simone Biles: A Little Golden Book Biography
JaNay Brown-Wood | Kim Holt | Golden Books | May 2, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis
Melvina Noel | Cozbi A. Cabrera | Cameron Kids | April 18, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee
Carole Boston Weatherford | Frank Morrison | Candlewick | April 11, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Young, Gifted and Black Too: Meet 52 More Black Icons from Past and Present
Jamia Wilson | Andrea Pippins | Wide Eyed Editions | April 4, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All
Tami Charles | Jemma Skidmore | Simon & Schuster BYR | April 4, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Doubleday BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson
Carole Boston Weatherford | Ashley Evans | Crown BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!
Tonya Bolden | R. Gregory Christie | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce
Chiquita Mullins Lee | Carmella Van Vleet | Jennifer Mack-Watkins | Kokila | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A is for Aretha (Board Book)
Leslie Kwan | Rachelle Baker | Kokila | January 24, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights
Angela Dalton | Lauren Semmer | HarperCollins | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better
Glenda Armand | Kim Freeman | Keith Mallett | Crown BYR | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music
Roberta Flack | Tonya Bolden | Hayden Goodman | Anne Schwartz Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Put On Your Shoes and Get Ready!
Raphael G. Warnock | Temika Grooms | Philomel Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Justice Rising: 12 Amazing Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Kim Holt | Viking BYR | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Beyonce: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Harry Belafonte: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes
Traci N. Todd | Shannon Wright | Orchard Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Ashe Brothers: How Arthur and Johnnie Changed Tennis Forever
Judy Allen Dodson | David Wilkerson | Capstone | January 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Fearless Heart: An Illustrated Biography of Surya Bonaly
Frank Murphy | Surya Bonaly | Triumph Books | Anastasia Magloire Williams | January 25, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
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