Looking for some diverse children’s books to add to your children’s library? Check out our favorite kids’ picture books that happen to include people of color as the main character.
As the mother of two children of (varying shades of) color, I am always on the lookout for diverse picture books. Considering how important it is for kids to see people who like them in print and in the media, it is actually pretty shocking to me how few books feature characters that aren’t white (or aren’t animals for that matter, but that’s not what we’re talking about today).
And while I love books that explicitly teach kids about differences (Happy in My Skin and It’s Okay to Be Different being two of our favorites), my favorite thing is finding great books where the child’s ethnicity/race/culture is not the focus of the story, but simply a part of who the child is.
The character might (and should!) live in a world that is cognizant of their culture, but they are going through things the common kid goes through- like getting a new pet, being scared of monsters, or participating in the school’s science fair.
So, here’s a list of our favorite diverse children’s books that just so happen to feature children of color in a starring role.
