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Black Music Month: 25 Picture Books by Black Authors

June is Black Music Month, and here are 25 fiction and nonfiction picture books about hip-hop, soul, folk, rhythm & blues, rock n roll, and more! You can see additional books in this past article: Rock, Rhymin’, and Respect: 21 (and more) Books for Black Music Month.

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1. Legends of Hip-Hop: Queen Latifah

Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperFestival | September 19, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon |Bookshop


2. I’m Amazing

Keb’ Mo’ | Chris Saunders | Flowerpot Press | July 5, 2022 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop


3. Let Your Light Shine

Keb’ Mo’ | Chris Saunders | Flowerpot Press | July 5, 2022 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop


4. Legends of Hip-Hop: 2Pac

Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperFestival | September 19, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop


5. A is for Aretha

Leslie Kwan | Rachelle Baker | Kokila | January 24, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop



6. Lean on Me

Bill Withers | Rachel Moss | Akashic Books | August 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


7. This Train Is Bound for Glory

Alice Faye Duncan | Paul Kellam | WaterBrook | June 6, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


8. Soul of Harmony: Runnin’ Away with the Rhythm

Craig Rex Perry | Cedar Grove Books | June 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


9. My Dad Is a DJ

Kathryn Erskine | Keith Henry Brown | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | May 2, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


10. Big Tune

Alliah L. Agostini | Shamar Knight-Justice | FSG | March 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop



11. Mary Can!: Nothing Is Impossible

Mary J. Blige |  Ashleigh Corrin | HarperCollins | March 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


12. Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar

Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Doubleday BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


13. The Story of the Saxophone

Lesa Cline-Ransome | James E. Ransome | Holiday House | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


14. Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!

Tonya Bolden | R. Gregory Christie | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


15. Sugar Pie Lullaby

Carole Weatherford | Sawyer Cloud | Sourcebooks Explore | February 7, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop



16. The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music

Roberta Flack | Tonya Bolden | Hayden Goodman | Anne Schwartz Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


17. Lovely Day

Bill Withers | Skip Scarborough | Olivia Duchess | Scholastic Inc. | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


18. Beyonce: A Little Golden Book Biography

Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


19. Harry Belafonte: A Little Golden Book Biography

Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


20. 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



21. Music Is in Everything

Ziggy Marley | Ag Jatkowska | Akashic Books | October 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


22. Build a House

Rhiannon Giddens | Monica Mikai | Candlewick Press | October 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


23. Yellow Dog Blues

Alice Faye Duncan | Chris Raschka | Eerdmans BYR | September 27, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


24. Song in the City

Daniel Bernstrom | Jenin Mohammed | HarperCollins | September 6, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


25. Life is Beautiful

Keb’ Mo’ | Marco Furlotti | Flowerpot Press | March 2, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop


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