Recommended Black History Books for Children by Grade
Every February, Black History Month provides children with the opportunity to learn and share in the rich history of African Americans, both at school and at home.
Educators and parents alike know that even with the development of electronic learning technologies, reading still provides the primary gateway into that history, as it does for much of what our children learn.
That’s why Sylvan Learning created a new learning system that blends state-of-the-art instructional technology with our proven proprietary approach to supplemental learning. With SylvanSync™, Sylvan’s certified instructors incorporate the use of an iPad® to create a more engaging educational experience for students and extend the learning of reading, math and other skills into the home and onto mobile devices.
Sylvan Learning located in <City> is deeply dedicated to helping children build their reading skills. In addition to the leading-edge SylvanSync system, Sylvan also offers a range of free resources—including reading lists and online learning aids— aimed at helping children acquire the reading skills they need.
Black History Month provides parents with the perfect opportunity to use reading to bring this important history alive for their child while helping to build their student’s reading skills. Each of the books in our recommended reading list offers an excellent window into black history at the appropriate level for each grade.
Elementary School
| Kindergarten: | God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday A Picture Book of Rosa Parks by David A. Adler and Robert Castilla |
| Grade 1: | Big Jabe by Jerdine Nolan I Dream of Trains by Angela Johnson |
| Grade 2: | I’ve Seen The Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther Kind, Jr. by Walter Dean Myers If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold |
| Grade 3: | Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa by Andrea Davis Pinkney Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan |
| Grade 4: | When Grandmama Sings by Margaree King Mitchell
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and Margo Lundell |
| Grade 5: | Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
A Pride of African Tales by Donna L. Washington |
Middle School
| Grade 6: | Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Extraordinary People of the Harlem Renaissance by Stephen P. Hardy |
| Grade 7: | Caleb’s Wars by David L. Dudley
Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson |
| Grade 8: | The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words by Milton Meltzer Somehow Tenderness Survives: Stories of Southern Africa by Hazel Rockman |
High School
| Grade 9: | The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant
The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers |
| Grade 10: | The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: The Poems by Langston Hughes Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth |
| Grade 11: | Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln by
John Stauffer The Color Purple by Alice Walker |
| Grade 12: | A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston |
Parents with children in grades K-8 also can take advantage of Book Adventure (
