28 Books Every Black Girl Should Read This Black History Month

05 Feb 2016
Black History Month first began in 1926 when historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson dedicated the week in February that captured the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln as Negro History Week. Over the years the event grew into a month long celebration in which African Americans honored and highlighted their vibrant and powerful histories for all the world to see.
So in that tradition, we’ve compiled a list of children’s books that celebrate the Bold and Fearless women throughout our history. And since there’s one book for everyday of the month, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to spend a bit of time each day reading with a special little girl!
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
By Renee Watson
Little Melba and Her big Trombone
By Katheryn Russell-Brown
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
By Patricia Hruby Powell
By Robert Coles
She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story
By Audrey Vernick
Skit-Skat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald
Roxane Orgill
Queen Like Me: The True Story of Girls Who Changed the World
By Dr. Kimberly Brown
Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman
By Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger
Molly, by Golly: The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter
By Dianne Ochiltree
Phillis Sings Out Freedom: The Story of George Washington and Phillis Wheatly
By Ann Malaspina
Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa
By Jeanette Winter
By Ntozake Shange
If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks
By Faith Ringgold
Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You A Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis
Robbin Gourley
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
By Carole Boston Weatherford
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
By Carole Boston Weatherford
Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl
By Tonya Bolden
In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage
By Alan Schroeder
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride
By Andrea Davis Pinkney
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
By Pam Munoz Ryan
The Little Piano Girl: The Story of Mary Lou Williams, Jazz Legend
By Ann Ingalls and Maryann Macdonald
Zora!: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston
By Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin
By Ellen Labrecque
Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England
by Walter Dean Myers
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March
By Lynda Blackmon Lowery
Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson
By Sue Stauffacher
The Story of Stagecoach Mary Fields
By Robert H. Miller
By Megan Stine
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Hi I’m in South Africa how can i get these books..?? they are seriously needed.
Plaatjie, thank you for your comment! Have you tried sites like loot.co.za or raru.co.za?
What a great list of books!! I love that the celebrate a wide range of people from artists to politics figures. Dope!
I love that about it too- us Black girls are great in so many ways!
This is an awesome list! I will have to book mark for future reference.
Thanks, so glad you like it!
Great, great collection of black women and their contribution. Thank you Ebonee for curating the books. I have pinned this grouping and will be using it with in our homeschooling.
Excellent, thanks and happy reading!!
LOVE this list! Many of the books listed are new to me and I will check them out. Thank you so much for sharing!
Siobhan
http://www.befreeproject.com
That’s wonderful, I’m glad you were able to learn about few new books!!
I’m loving this list and can’t wait to get my kiddos lots of these to add to their library! Thanks for sharing!
That’s wonderful, happy reading to you and your kiddos!
Love these books! As the mother of two fearless, brown Super Girls I will have to add some of these to the collection. The only one that's missing is The Quickest Kid in Town about Wilma Rudolph!
Great, I’ll be adding that in for the next list. Thanks and enjoy!
This is such a great list! I’ll be saving this list for my baby girl.
Wonderful, I know she will love them!
Such a great list! Bookmarking this because I’m going to be hooking my goddaughter up with some of these titles.
Books are always great gifts, Im sure your goddaughter will love these! Glad you liked the list!
I love every book in this section you suggested. Many of these I didnt know was out there and these need to be read outside of Black History Month too!
They absolutely do, by big and little girls alike!
These look like some pretty awesome books. Great list.
Thanks, hope you get a chance to enjoy a few for yourself!
Great list of books. I see a lot I need to pick up. We are doing 1000 books before Kindergarten, and some of these would be great for our daughter.
1000 books before Kindergarten!Wow, so amazing!
What an amazing selection of books. I wish they had this type of variety of books when I was coming up. So glad to see our history so well represented.
I agree, Black girl representation in literature has come a long way…looking forward to the future!
Love this list! I remember my daughter reading some of these books when she was younger.
Glad you like it!