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10 Books to Celebrate Black History Month With Your Little One

Explore these book recommendations from our early education experts to celebrate Black History Month with your child.

Anne-Marie Akin January 22, 2024
  • Equity
  • Family Engagement
  • Blog
  • Resource

At Start Early, we are committed to cultivating an environment built on the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. The opening remarks were provided by Chandra Ewell, DEIB team lead.

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements, culture and legacy of Black Americans who have made contributions and played a critical role in shaping our country. We take the month of February to center Black voices and honor Black stories as we lift up the past, recognize the present and share hopes for the future.

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It’s never too early to start sharing positive reflections by sharing diverse stories with your children. It is important for children not only to see themselves, but others represented in the books we read to them. Reading books with your little one is a fun and easy way to help introduce them to new cultures, experiences and events in history.

Literature transforms the human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation.

"Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors" by Rudine Sims Bishop
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Children's Books To Read During Black History Month

Whether your child is a toddler, in pre-K or on their way to kindergarten, here are some great book recommendations from Anne-Marie Akin, our Educare Chicago librarian to read during this month and beyond:

Books recommended for infants:

Books recommended for toddlers:

Books recommended for children in pre-K or kindergarten:

About the Author

Anne-Marie Akin, Library Consultant & Musician, Educare Chicago

Anne-Marie Akin

Library Consultant & Musician-in-Residence, Educare Chicago

Anne-Marie Akin, MFA, incorporates diverse stories and music into Educare Chicago’s curriculum to help support students’ learning and development.

More About Anne-Marie

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