Black History Month is a time to honor, respect, recognize, and celebrate Black Americans’ accomplishments, events, and cultural impact, an impact that shaped not only Black Americans’ lives but also America’s trajectory. In 2025, history is still being made. There have been and will continue to be many history-making firsts and other amazing achievements from the living and yet-to-be-born.
The picture books featured on the list below celebrate the Black child. There are hopeful messages, love letters, and exceptional expressions of encouragement from Black authors. Books that are filled with words and beautiful illustrations allow for belief, inspiration, aspiration, and love of self. These are recipes that will help fulfill dreams and create new stories.
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1. Black Joy: Love Yourself, Love Your Culture (Charnaie Gordon | Lhaiza Morena | becker&mayer! kids | 2025)
2. Dear Black Boy (Martellus Bennett | Frances Lincoln Children’s Books | 2025)
3. Brown Girl, Brown Girl (Leslé Honoré | Cozbi A. Cabrera | Little, Brown BYR | 2024)
4. All the Greatness in You (Tameka Fryer Brown | Alleanna Harris | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | 2024)
5. Black Girl, Black Girl (Ali Kamanda | Jorge Redmond | Amanda Quartey | Sourcebooks Explore | 2024)
6. When Black Girls Dream Big (Tanisia Moore | Robert Paul, Jr. | Scholastic Press | 2024)
7. We Are Free, You and Me (Colin Kaepernick | Nessa Diab | Gladys Jose | Scholastic | 2024)
8. Our Joyful Noise (Gabriele Davis | Craig Stanley | Atheneum BYR | 2024)
9. Be, Black Girl, Be (Taylor Darks | Sharee Miller | Balzer & Bray | 2024)
10. The Spark in You (Andrea Pippins | Random House Studio | 2024)
11. Love Bubble (Harold Green III | Princess Karibo | Running Press Kids | 2023)
12. Keep Dreaming, Black Child (Nyasha Williams | Sawyer Cloud | Running Press Kids | 2023)
13. Brown Sugar Baby Sweetest Love (Kevin Lewis | Jestenia Southerland | Cottage Door Press | Board Book | 2023)
14. I Love Me! (Marvyn Harrison | Diane Ewen | Abrams Appleseed | 2023)
15. The Light She Feels Inside (Gwendolyn Wallace | Olivia Duchess | Sourcebooks Jabberwocky | 2023)
16. I Love Everything About Me (Fatima Scipio | Paige Mason | Entangled: Little Lark | 2023)
17. Brown Sugar Baby (Kevin Lewis | Jestenia Southerland | Cottage Door Press | Board Book | 2022)
18. I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams (Tanisia Moore | Robert Paul | Scholastic Press | 2023)
19. A Song So Black, So Proud! (R.J. Owens | Keisha Okafor | Sleeping Bear Press | 2023)
20. Bros (Carole Boston Weatherford | Reggie Brown | Candlewick | 2024)
21. You So Black (Theresa tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D. | London Ladd | Millner/Simon & Schuster | 2023)
22. What Does Brown Mean to You? (Ron Grady | Nancy Paulsen Books | 2023)
23. We Are Here Tami Charles | Bryan Collier | Orchard Books | 2023)
24. A Boy and His Mirror (Marchánt Davis | Keturah A. Bobo | Nancy Paulsen Books | 2023)
25. Our Beautiful Colors (Nikki Shannon Smith | Bea Jackson | Golden Books | 2022)
26. Little Black Boy: Oh, the Things You Will Do! (Kirby Howell-Baptiste | Larry C. Fields III | Paul Davey | Paulsen | 2022)
27. Little Black Girl: Oh, the Things You Can Do! (Kirby Howell-Baptiste | Paul Davey | Nancy Paulsen Books | 2022)
28. Hold Them Close: A Love Letter to Black Children (Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow | Patrick Dougher | HarperCollins | 2022)
29. Shine Bright (Kheris Rogers | Mechal Roe | HarperCollins | 2022)
30. Dear Black Child (Rahma Rodaah | Lydia Mba | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray | 2022)
31. Hello, Beautiful You! (Andrea Pinkney | Brian Pinkney | Cartwheel Books | Board Book | 2022)
32. Black Boy, Black Boy (Ali Kamanda | Jorge Redmond | Ken Daley | Sourcebooks Explore | 2022)
33. Because You Are (Jael Richardson | Nneka Myers | HarperCollins | 2022)
34. I Am Amazing (Alissa Holder | Zulekha Holder-Young | Nneka Myers | Flamingo Books | 2022)
35. Bloom (Ruth Forman | Talia Skyles | Little Simon | Board Book | 2022)
36. Fly (Brittany J. Thurman | Anna Cunha | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | 2022)
37. The Me I Choose to Be (Natasha Anastasia Tarpley | Regis and Kahran Bethencourt | Little, Brown BYR | 2021)
38. Glow (Ruth Forman | Geneva Bowers | Little Simon | Board Book | 2021)
39. I Affirm Me: The ABCs of Inspiration for Black Kids (Nyasha Williams | Sóf’ya Glushkó | Running Press Kids | 2021)
40. I Am Smart, I Am Blessed, I Can Do Anything! (Alissa Holder | Zulekha Holder-Young | Nneka Myers | Flamingo | 2020)
41. All Because You Matter (Tami Charles | Bryan Collier | Orchard Books | 2020)
42. I Am Every Good Thing (Derrick Barnes | Gordon C. James | Nancy Paulsen Books | 2020)
43. Brown Sugar Babe (Charlotte Watson Sherman | Akem | Astra Young Readers | 2020)
44. Black Is a Rainbow Color (Angela Joy | Ekua Holmes | Roaring Brook Press | 2020)
45. Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration (Samara Cole Doyon | Kaylani Juanita | Tilbury House | 2020)
46. M Is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child (Tiffany Rose | little bee books | 2019)
47. I Am Loved (Nikki Giovanni | Ashley Bryan | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books | 2018)
48. Hey Black Child (Useni Eugene Perkins | Bryan Collier | Little, Brown BYR | 2017)
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