EPL.ca: Black History Books for Children

Anancy and the Haunted House - Richardo Keens-Douglas
An original story based on the oral tradition of the Ashanti people of Ghana, this picture book teaches that there is strength in numbers.

Asha's Mums - Rosamund Elwin
Asha is an African-Canadian girl whose lesbian mums become an issue for the teacher and a curiosity for her classmates. Asha assures everyone that having two mums is no big deal - they are a family.

Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County - Janice N. Harrington
A young farm girl tries to catch her favourite chicken, until she learns something about the hen that makes her change her ways.

Happy to be Nappy - Bell Hooks
Celebrates the joy and beauty of nappy hair.

I Lost My Tooth in Africa - Pende Diakite
While visiting her father's family in Mali, Amina discovers that losing a tooth is a universal milestone.

My Rows and Piles of Coins - Tololwa Mollel
A Tanzanian boy saves his coins to buy a bicycle so that he can help his parents carry goods to market, but then he discovers that in spite of all he has saved, he still does not have enough money.

Nana's Cold Days - Adwoa Badoe
Ken and Rama’s grandmother, just off the plane from Africa, finds it hard to adjust to a Canadian winter.

Other Side - Jacqueline Woodson
Two girls, one white and one black, gradually get to know each as they sit on the fence that divides their town.

Please Clean Up Your Room! - Itah Sadu
Christopher is a great kid, except he's messy. Everyone thinks his bedroom is disgusting but nothing can make Christopher clean up his room - until his goldfish get really annoyed!

Shades of Black: A Celebration of our Children - Sandra L Pinkney
Photographs celebrate the beauty and diversity of African American children.

Thunder Rose - Jerdine Nolen
Unusual from the day she is born, Thunder Rose performs all sorts of amazing feats, including building fences, taming a stampeding herd of steers, capturing a gang of rustlers, and turning aside a tornado.

Ashley Bryan's ABC of African-American Poetry - Ashley Bryan
Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a line from a poem by different African American poets, describing an aspect of the black experience.

Beautiful Blackbird - Ashley Bryan
In a story of the Ila people, the colourful birds of Africa ask Blackbird, whom they think is the most beautiful of birds, to decorate them with some of his “blackening brew.”

Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella - Robert D. San Souci
A Creole variant of the Cinderella tale, set in the Caribbean and narrated by the godmother who helps Cendrillon find true love.

Fire on the Mountain - Jane Kurtz
A clever young shepherd boy uses his wits to gain a fortune from a haughty rich man.

How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children
Lyrics and background notes for 23 contemporary and traditional songs.

In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers
A collection of poems celebrating black fathers.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Doreen Rappaport
A picture book biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me - Maya Angelou
A young South African girl describes some of her favourite things and shows the passing of Ndebele traditions from parent to child.

Subira Subira - Tololwa Mollel
Set in contemporary Tanzania, this variation on a traditional tale describes how a young girl learns a lesson in patience when a spirit woman sends her to get three whiskers from a lion.

Sundiata: Lion King of Mali - David Wisniewski
The story of Sundiata, who overcame physical handicaps, social disgrace, and strong opposition to rule Mali in the thirteenth century.

Elijah of Buxton - Christopher Paul Curtis
In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.

I Have Been in Danger - Cheryl Foggo
Ten-year-old Sidney saves her older sister on a camping holiday in the mountains, helping them learn that the depth and permanence of their relationship as sisters is an important part of what defines them.

Last Days in Africville - Dorothy Perkyns
Twelve-year-old Selina Palmer is growing up in Halifax in the 1960s when city developers threaten the homes of the black community in Africville.

Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street - Angela Johnson
Ten-year-old Charlie adjusts to her move to a new neighbourhood when she befriends Billy, with whom she hunts maniac monkeys, braves Mr. Pinkbelly’s attack cat, and digs for fossils and treasure. An easy chapter book.

Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale - Gail Nyoka
In the Land of the People (known today as Zimbabwe), Mella must accomplish a brave task in order to save her father, the king.

Mirror and Me - Common
Kare is an 11-year-old boy from South Africa, trying to adjust to a new school in New York City. Told in hip-hop style.

Old African - Julius Lester
Based on Ibo legend, this is the tale of a slave with the spiritual power to enter the minds of others and to help people triumph over pain and oppression.

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters - Pat McKissack
The author retells comically exaggerated stories that she heard as a child on her grandparents' front porch in Nashville.

Rachel. Our Canadian Girl Series - Lynne Kositsky
Rachel's life in Nova Scotia is not easy after she and her mother escape from slavery in the United States in 1783.

Steel Drums and Ice Skates - Dirk McLean
Holly joins her parents two years after they have emmigrated to Canada and learns to cope with life in Toronto in a new school and new culture.

Underground to Canada - Barbara Smucker
Two slave girls escape from a plantation near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and steal toward Canada on the Underground Railroad.

Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 - Christopher Paul Curtis
A novel about civil rights and the impact of violence on a funny black family.

Way a Door Closes - Hope Anita Smith
Poems tell the story of what happens to a family when a father leaves... and then comes back.

At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England - Walter Dean Myers
Biography of the African princess saved from execution and taken to England where Queen Victoria oversaw her upbringing and where she lived for a time before marrying an African missionary.

Brown Girl in the Ring, Rosemary Brown: A Biography for Young People - Lynette Roy
Rosemary Brown was a person of many 'firsts' in Canada through her professional, feminist, rights activist, leadership, community and social vision to influence change for the betterment of all through inclusion, equity and social justice.

I Have a Dream - Martin Luther King
The words from King’s most famous speech are accompanied here with paintings by fifteen Coretta Scott King Award and Honor book artists.

Jazz A-B-Z - Wynton Marsalis and Paul Rogers
From Louis Armstrong to Dizzy Gillespie, poetry and artwork celebrate great jazz artists.

Kids Book of Black Canadian History - Rosemary Sadlier
From the first black person who came to Canada about 400 years ago to the most recent wave of African immigrants, black Canadians have played an important role in our country's history.

Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad - Barbara Greenwood
Part novel, part history lesson and part activity guide. The story revolves around a Canadian family's participation in the Underground Railroad in 1856.

Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom - Virginia Hamilton
Recounts the journey of black slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa - Verna Aardema
A collection of twelve folktales from different parts of Africa.

Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth - Anne F. Rockwell
A biography of one of the abolitionist movement's most compelling voices.

Peaceful Protest: The Life of Nelson Mandela - Yona Zeldis McDonough
A biography of the black South African leader who became a civil rights activist, political prisoner, and president of South Africa.

Rosa - Nikki Giovanni
Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a bus was a remarkable historic event that resulted in a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on buses was illegal.

Singing Towards the Future: The Story of Portia White - Lian Goodall
Born into a family with ten siblings in Nova Scotia, Portia White realized her dream to sing on stage, even though there were few opera roles for black singers in the 1920s.

Twins and the Bird of Darkness: A Hero Tale from the Caribbean - Robert D. San Souci
Twin brothers, one brave and one cowardly, set off to rescue a princess from the Bird of Darkness.

Wake Up Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists - Tonya Bolden
This book highlights influential and important 20th-century artists.

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson: The Voice of a Century - Pam Munoz Ryan
An introduction to the life of Marian Anderson, extraordinary singer and civil rights activist, who was the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.

African Canadian Online

Ontario Black History Society

Updated January 2008