Just a small shift away from the nonfictions I’ve been sharing and will get back to soon. Today, it’s classics of Black children’s literature. This is definitely NOT an exhaustive list! I’m certain that as soon as I post this, someone is going to ask why I didn’t include one of their favorite and I will wish I had. So, consider this a conversation starter. What are the classic books that represent Black youth and culture and still should be read widely?

The Middle Passage: White Ships/ Black Cargo by Tom Feelings and John Henrik Clarke. Dial Books

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. Little, Brown

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. Knopf

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. Amistad

Honey I Love by Eloise Greenfield. HarperCollins

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Viking

M C Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton. Aladdin

The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake. Little, Brown

The House You Pass On The Way by Jacqueline Woodson. Nancy Paulsen Books

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Puffin

Tears of Tiger (Hazelwood high Trilogy #1) by Sharon M. Draper. Atheneum

Sunday You Learn How to Box by Bil Wright. Simon & Schuster

The Rose that Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur. MTV Books

Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Amistad

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Soulja. Atria/Emily Bestler Books

The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Penguin Books

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Vintage Books