A short little post today about Black History Month books.
Why Black History Month matters: because we are humans on a shared journey. We are brothers and sisters with each other, and it’s imperative that we know what others have gone through so that we can come alongside of each other and do better together.
Jesus has words to share with us about loving your neighbor as yourself, and about the very nature of the kingdom of God. And those are definitely themes that are important and that we want to impart to our kids, so I am really excited to dive into Black History Month this year.
February snuck up on me (because January felt about 193 days long this year, CAN I GET AN AMEN), so I was a little behind the ball in collecting good books for us to read about black Americans.
After perusing our book shelves for some read aloud books in honor of Black History Month, I realized we only own a few.
So. I did some research and ordered some Black History Month books for the kids – and a few for myself – to celebrate Black History Month, so I thought I’d share those today.
Kids Books for Black History Month
I am Harriet Tubman by Brad Meltzer. Could I even consider assembling a book list related to history without including these books? NO, I CANNOT. I WILL NOT. I’ve raved about these books before and will continue to do so because they are fantastically done.
My kids read them over and over and the character lessons in them are phenomenal. This month, we’ll also read I am Martin Luther King Jr and I am Jackie Robinson from the same series.
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History, by Vashti Harrison. I like this book because it covers many different men from many different fields and backgrounds. Each page features a different man. We will work our way through the different profiles in this book throughout the month.
The Underground Railroad, by Bonnie Bader. I grabbed this one because I thought it’d be a good companion book to “I am Harriet Tubman” from above. It’s an American Girl history book, and I have a huge American Girl fan so I think she’ll really enjoy this.
A Girl Named Misty, by Kelly Starling Armstrong. Another American Girl book. This one tells the story of the first African American principle dancer for the American Ballet Company. American Girl plus ballet plus history? Sounds like a huge hit for our daughter.
Who Were the Tuskogee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith. I grabbed this one because it’s a new story for all of us – I’m not familiar with who the Tuskogee Airmen are. I expect we’ll all enjoy this book.
Black American Month Books for Grown Ups
Twitter is the delight of my life right now. I follow so many authors and my “to read” list has exploded. I’ve been really challenged to read more books by and about people of color this year. So for Black History Month, I picked a few books by black authors that I want to read.
Now. I have sooooooo many books sitting on my shelves that I need to read, so I couldn’t justify buying lots of books, but I did want to buy a couple. I chose these because our small town library doesn’t own them.
All the Colors We Will See: Reflections on Barriers, Brokenness, and Finding Our Way, by Patrice Gopo. I think this book sounds beautiful. That’s the sole reason I ordered it. I can’t wait to dig into it.
How to Fix a Broken Record: Thoughts on Vinyl Records, Awkward Relationships, and Learning to be Myself, by Amena Brown. Another book whose description just resonated with me. I don’t know why I was drawn to it, but I trust my gut so I bought it. I think it sounds amazing.
So, there’s the list of what we’ll be reading through this month. Do have any favorite books for Black History Month?
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