Business, sports, politics, the arts, and many more fields are covered in these books that celebrate the courage, resolve, brilliance, ingenuity, musicality, imagination, and power of Black women and girls. It’s Women’s History Month, and here are 68 picture books by Black authors featuring well-known and barely known individuals who made history in their way. Explore the titles and meet Jacci Gresham, Myra Viola Wilds, Yvonne Clark, Mavis Staples, Jennifer Jones, and many more. Stay tuned for chapter, middle-grade, and young adult (YA) books for older readers.
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1. Becoming a Ballerina: The Story of Michaela Mabinty DePrince
Laura Obuobi | Olivia Duchess | HarperCollins | January 21, 2025
2. Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds
Nancy Johnson James | Diana Ejaita | Abrams BYR | January 14, 2025
3. 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
4. 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
5. Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark
Allen R. Wells | DeAndra Hodge | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | January 7, 2025
6. And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Daniel Minter | Little, Brown BYR | January 7, 2025
7. Cicely Tyson
Renée Watson | Sherry Shine | Amistad BYR | November 5, 2024
8. What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice
Jay Leslie | Loveis Wise | Zando – Hillman Grad Books | October 22, 2024
9. A Voice of Hope: The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story
Nadia Salomon | London Ladd | Philomel Books | September 24, 2024
10. Go, Wilma, Go!
Amira Rose Davis | Michael G. Long | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Bloomsbury | July 16, 2024
11. Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples | Carole Boston Weatherford | Steffi Walthall | Rocky Pond Books | July 9, 2024
12. Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair
Lisa D. Brathwaite | Lynn Gaines | Lee & Low Books | February 6, 2024
13. Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller
Breanna J. McDaniel | April Harrison | Dial | February 6, 2024
14. Extraordinary Magic: The Writing Life of Virginia Hamilton
Nina Crews | Christy Ottaviano/Little Brown | January 9, 2024
15. Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote
Dinah Johnson | Jerry Jordan | Little, Brown/Ottaviano | January 2, 2024
16. Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King | Barbara Reynolds | Ekua Holmes | Godwin Books | January 2, 2024
17. Oprah Winfrey: A Little Golden Book Biography
Alliah L. Agostini | Tara Nicole Whitaker | Golden Books | November 7, 2023
18. On the Line: My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette
Jennifer Jones | Lissette Norman | Robert Paul, Jr. | HarperCollins | October 31, 2023
19. Traveling Shoes: The Story of Willye White, US Olympian and Long Jump Champion
Alice Faye Duncan | Keith Mallett | Calkins Creek | October 24, 2023
20. Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball
Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir | Judith Henderson | Katherine Ahmed | Kids Can Press | September 5, 2023
21. Justice Ketanji: The Story of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Denise Lewis Patrick | Kim Holt | Orchard Books | August 1, 2023
22. Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist
Liz Montague | Random House Studio | May 16, 2023
23. Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis
Melvina Noel | Cozbi A. Cabrera | Cameron Kids | April 18, 2023
24. How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee
Carole Boston Weatherford | Frank Morrison | Candlewick | April 11, 2023
25. Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!
Tonya Bolden | R. Gregory Christie | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023
26. To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights
Angela Dalton | Lauren Semmer | HarperCollins | January 17, 2023
27. The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music
Roberta Flack | Tonya Bolden | Hayden Goodman | Anne Schwartz Books | January 10, 2023
28. Harriet Tubman
JaNay Brown-Wood | Robert Paul, Jr. | Golden Books | December 6, 2022
29. Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele
Valerie June Hockett | Marcela Avelar | Third Man Books | November 1, 2022
30. Maya’s Song
Reneé Watson | Bryan Collier | HarperCollins | September 20, 2022
31. Bessie the Motorcycle Queen
Charles R. Smith Jr. | Charlot Kristensen | Scholastic | September 20, 2022
Ruby Bridges | Nikkolas Smith | Orchard Books | September 6, 2022
33. Stacey Abrams and the Fight to Vote
Traci N. Todd | Laura Freeman | HarperCollins | August 30, 2022
34. Choosing Brave: Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till, and the Voice That Sparked the Civil Rights Movement
Angela Joy | Janelle Washington | Roaring Brook | August 9, 2022
35. Mae Makes a Way: The True Story of Mae Reeves, Hat and History Maker
Olugemisola Rhuday-Perkovich | Andrea Pippins | Crown BYR | May 24, 2022
36. Alma’s Art
Roda Ahmed | Anita Cheung | Hightree Publishing | February 20, 2022
37. Call Me Miss Hamilton: One Woman’s Case for Equality and Respect
Carole Boston Weatherford | Jeffery Boston Weatherford | Millbrook Press | February 1, 2022
Tracey Baptiste | Tonya Engel | Dial Books | February 1, 2022
39. Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
Alice Faye Duncan | Keturah A. Bobo | Thomas Nelson | January 11, 2022
40. When the Schools Shut Down
Yolanda Gladden | Tamara Pizzoli | Keisha Morris | HarperCollins | January 11, 2022
41. Charlotte and the Nutcracker: The True Story of a Girl Who Made Ballet History
Charlotte Nebres | Alea Marley | Random House BYR | December 21, 2021
42. Stitch by Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom
Connie Schofield-Morrison | Elizabeth Zunon | Holiday House | November 9, 2021
43. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone
Traci Todd | Christian Robinson | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | September 28, 2021
44. Michelle’s Garden: How the First Lady Planted Seeds of Change
Sharee Miller | Little, Brown BYR | March 2, 2021
Dovey Johnson Roundtree | Katie McCabe | Raissa Figueroa | Roaring Brook | February 9, 2021
46. Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston
Alicia D. Williams | Jacqueline Alcántara | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | January 12, 2021
47. Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles
Michelle Meadows | Ebony Glenn | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | December 29, 2020
48. Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight
Karyn Parsons | R. Gregory Christie | Little, Brown BYR | December 1, 2020
49. Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice
Nikki Grimes | Laura Freeman | Atheneum BYR | August 25, 2020
50. Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb
Veronica Chambers | Rachelle Baker | Dial Books | July 28, 2020
51. Althea Gibson: The Story of Tennis’ Fleet-of-Foot Girl
Megan Reid | Laura Freeman | Balzer + Bray | PB | January 21, 2020
52. The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne
Lesa Cline-Ransome | John Parra | S&S/Paula Wiseman | January 14, 2020
53. A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story
Sharon Langley | Amy Nathan | Floyd Cooper | Abrams BYR | January 7, 2020
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Laura Freeman | Bloomsbury | January 7, 2020
55. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
Rita Lorraine Hubbard | Oge Mora | Schwartz & Wade | January 7, 2020
56. Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball’s Negro Leagues
Leah Henderson | George Doutsiopoulos | Capstone | January 1, 2020
57. Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom
Gwendolyn Hooks | Simone Agoussoye | Capstone | October 1, 2019
Sarah Warren | Geneva Bowers | Clarion Books | June 4, 2019
59. Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins
Michelle Meadows | Ebony Glenn | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | January 8, 2019
60. A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks
Alice Faye Duncan | Xia Gordon | Sterling | January 1, 2019
61. Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver
Tami Charles | Claire Almon | Albert Whitman & Company | January 1, 2019
62. Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-ins
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich | Jade Johnson | Seagrass Press | August 7, 2018
63. Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams
Lesa Cline-Ransome | James E. Ransome | Simon & Schuster/Wiseman | July 3, 2018
64. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
Margot Lee Shetterly | Laura Freeman | HarperCollins | January 16, 2018
Roda Ahmed | Stasia Burrington | HarperCollins | January 9, 2018
66. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Carole Boston Weatherford | Ekua Holmes | Candlewick | August 4, 2015
67. Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream
Crystal Hubbard | Randy Duburke | Lee & Low Books | September 30, 2005
Eloise Greenfield | Jerry Pinkney | HarperCollins | July 21, 1994
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