Many daycare, preschool, pre-K, and elementary school teachers have their own classroom libraries. They usually develop these libraries out of pocket, or through donations; adding a new book is a way to build that library and increase the number of books kids have ready access to.

Here are a number of relatively new books that would be great additions to classroom libraries – and the majority of the authors and illustrators are BIPOC. I’ve separated them into categories by age, but please don’t treat that as a hard-and-fast rule.

Ages 2+

Hello, Hello by Brendan Wenzel

Carrot & Pea by Morag Hood

Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin

A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes

Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer

Ages 3+

Saturday by Oge Mora

Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott, illustrated by Bob Graham

Hank’s Big Day by Evan Kuhlman, illustrated by Chuck Groenink

Julian Is A Mermaid by Jessica Love

Ralph and Rita’s Rotten Day by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Pete Oswald

The Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

Lift by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Don’t Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller

Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington

Ages 4+

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

Owen by Kevin Henkes

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

The Someone New by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EJ Keller

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by Anoosha Syed

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua

World Pizza by Cece Meng, illustrated by Ellen Shi

Unstoppable! by Adam Rex

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

First Day of School

The Class by Boni Ashburn, illustrated by Kimberly Gee

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman

School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex

Truman by Jean Reidy

The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

 

As an additional resource, Tinkergarten pulled together a list of “24 Books with Black Protagonists by Black Authors.” Representation matters – all kids need to see themselves reflected in literature (positively!). And if your students are homogeneous, then diverse books can serve as “windows” to show them that the world is full of all kinds of people. (The “windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors” analogy was coined by Rudine Sims Bishop; Debbie Reese, founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature, would add “curtains” as well, that certain stories may be kept within a culture.)

Teachers, please chime in on the topic of classroom libraries. Do you welcome donations? Do you keep a wish list? Do you (or your students) have favorite titles, either for read-alouds or reading alone? What else should parents/caregivers/guardians/volunteers know about classroom libraries?