Theme Guide: Black History Month
February is Black History Month and we’ve created a reading list full of historical books that are perfect for educators and librarians to use all year round.
Picture Books |
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Africville When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she’s heard from her family come to mind. She imagines what the community was once like — the brightly painted houses nestled into the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge bonfires. Coming out of her reverie, she visits the present-day park and the sundial where her great-grandmother’s name is carved in stone, and celebrates a summer day at the annual Africville Reunion/Festival. |
Boonoonoonous Hair! It’s time to plait Jamilla’s hair but she’s hidden the comb. Jamilla doesn’t like her hair, she wants hair like other girls… long, easy to manage without plaits or pins. But Jamilla’s mom shows her how beautiful her hair is—electric, kinetic, bombastic and fantastic! Jamilla can have different styles every day of the week, from puffs and plaits to cornrows and braids! |
C is for Carnival D is for dance! E is for emancipation! From A to Z, this is a rhyming alphabet book that celebrates Canada’s Caribbean Carnival. This engaging and educational book features a diverse cast of children in vibrant costumes as they ‘play mas’ while dancing to Soca and Calypso music. A glossary at the end makes it easy for readers, including parents and teachers, to review what they have learned. |
A Feast for Joseph When Joseph and Mama lived in a refugee camp in East Africa, everyone cooked and ate together. And Joseph could always hear someone playing the awal. It’s much too quiet and lonely in his new home. Though Whoosh, the girl who lives upstairs, is friendly, Joseph misses having more people around, especially his grandmother, who still lives across the ocean. When the neighbours finally come over, it’s a feast! A touching story about adjusting to a new home and the pleasure of cooking and sharing food with friends.
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Greetings, Leroy Roy is writing an email to a friend back home in Jamaica. Roy has moved to Canada, where even the sun feels cold! When he describes his nervousness about school, a neighbour gives him a special button… A shared love of Bob Marley makes for a good start. Roy is happy to find a piece of his old home in his new home. |
Howdy, I’m John Ware Despite experiencing enslavement, war and discrimination, John Ware was a gifted horseman who blazed a trail of kindness, becoming one of Alberta’s most loved and respected pioneer ranchers. This 48-page full-colour illustrated biography includes a timeline, maps and educators’ notes. |
Idia of the Benin Kingdom This book takes young readers on a journey to the 1500s in Africa and introduces them to the story of Queen Idia of the ancient Kingdom of Benin. This story tells of a young Idia who pursued her dreams, believed in herself, and became a warrior queen and the first Iyoba (Queen Mother) of Benin. |
A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice Iconic poet Louise Bennett Coverley, or Miss Lou, popularized the use of patois and helped pave the way for artists like Harry Belafonte and Bob Marley. This picture book tells the story of Miss Lou as a young girl who loved poetry but felt caught between writing “lines of words like tight cornrows” or words that beat “in time with her heart.” |
Oscar Lives Next Door: A Story Inspired by Oscar Peterson’s Childhood Inspired by the real-life childhood of Oscar Peterson, this is a story of a boy forced to give up the instrument he loves — and who finds his way back to a lifelong passion for music. In this fictional account, Oscar’s friend Millie encourages him to play piano after tuberculosis robs him of his ability to play trumpet. This title is also available in French as Mon voisin Oscar: Une histoire inspirée de l’enfance d’Oscar Peterson. |
A Place Inside of Me: In this powerful poem by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, a Black child explores his shifting emotions throughout the year. Summertime is filled with joy, skateboarding and basketball until his community is deeply wounded by the death of a girl in a police shooting. As fall turns to winter and then spring, fear grows into anger, then pride and peace. |
The Stone Thrower African-American football player Chuck Ealey grew up poor in a racially segregated community, but his mother assured him that education was the way out. In high school, his football coach believed he could be a great quarterback. Despite the racist taunts he faced while playing, Chuck maintained a remarkable level of dedication and determination. When discrimination continued to follow him, Chuck Ealey remained undefeated. |
Welcome to the Cypher Starting with beatboxes and fingersnaps, an exuberant narrator introduces kids in his community to the powerful possibilities of rap, from turning “a simple phrase/into imagery that soars” to proclaiming, “this is a voice that represents me!” As Khodi Dill’s rhymes heat up, the diverse crew of kids—illustrated in Awuradwoa Afful’s bold, energetic style—gain self-confidence and a sense of freedom in this wonderful picture book debut that is perfect for reading aloud. |
Junior & Intermediate Fiction and Non-Fiction |
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Beatrice and Croc Harry Beatrice, a young girl of uncertain age, wakes up all alone in a tree house in the forest. How did she arrive in this cozy dwelling, stocked carefully with bookshelves and oatmeal accoutrements? And who has been leaving a trail of clues, composed in delicate purple handwriting? So begins the adventure of a brave and resilient Black girl’s search for identity and healing in this middle-grade debut. |
Black Women Who Dared
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Child Solider: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War In 1993, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, five-year-old Michel and his friends were kidnapped by rebel militants and thrust into a terrifying and violent world—forced to become child soldiers. A compelling story of resilience and courage, this book is Michel Chikwanine’s account of his time in a rebel militia, his escape and his family’s new life in Canada. |
Dragons in a Bag When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady called Ma, he finds out she’s a witch! Now Ma needs his help delivering baby dragons from Brooklyn to a magical realm where they’ll be safe. There are only two rules: Don’t let them out of the bag and don’t feed them anything sweet! Is Jaxon up to the task? You readers will also like the sequels, The Dragon Thief and The Witch’s Apprentice.
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The Journey of Little Charlie After his father dies, 12-year-old Charlie finds himself owing money to the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, South Carolina. He agrees to clear the debt by helping track down some stolen property. When he comes face-to-face with the ‘property’ and discovers their true identities, he is torn between his conscience and his survival instinct. |
The Kids Book of Black Canadian History 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. In this informative overview, kids will discover the inspiring stories and events of a people who fought oppression as they searched for a place to call their own. Featuring fact boxes, mini-profiles, a timeline and more, this book in the acclaimed Kids Book of series offers a glimpse into an often-overlooked part of Canadian history.
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Young Adult Fiction |
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Annaka Returning to her childhood home, Anna, once known as Annaka, faces the death of her beloved Grampy and memories from her younger self. With more questions than answers, Anna learns the danger of dwelling in the past — especially when she’s confronted with some uncomfortable truths. This bittersweet homecoming forces Anna to reconcile who she was with who she is becoming. |
Blood Like Magic The Calling is a trial every witch must pass to come into their powers. Sixteen-year-old Voya Thomas is given a horrifying task to complete her Calling: she must destroy her first love. Failure means that every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic. The problem is, she’s never been in love. She’ll have to find the perfect guy before she can kill him. |
The Bones of Ruin As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture… She cannot die. Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she gets embroiled in a secret society’s deadly gladiatorial tournament. Some truths are best left forgotten. |
Charming as a Verb Henri “Halti” Haltiwanger can charm just about anyone. But his easy smiles mask a burning ambition to attend his dream college, Columbia University. His neighbour Corinne uncovers Henri’s less-than-honest dog-walking scheme and blackmails him into helping her change her image at school. What starts as a mutual hustle becomes something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for. |
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Facing the Sun Change is coming to Pindar Street. This story, set in the Bahamas, revolves around four friends experiencing unexpected changes in their lives when a hotel developer purchases their community’s beloved beach. Saving their beach is complicated, and each of the girls faces personal challenges. Confronted with the loss of their communal refuge, the girls must navigate their friendship in a shifting world. |
Given Yenni, a Yirba princess, is leaving her home to attend school in the Empire of Cresh. Yenni hopes Cresh is where she will find a cure for her father’s mysterious illness, but what she finds first is culture shock, prejudice and an arrogant dragon-shifter named Weysh. Yenni has only two options: succeed and save her father, or fail and face exile. |
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Hurricane Summer When Tilla learns she’ll be spending the summer with her father in Jamaica, she dreads the idea but also longs to discover what life on the island has always held for him. Forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life, Tilla learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise… all in the face of an impending hurricane. |
Like Home Nelo loves the chill vibe of her beloved neighbourhood, Ginger East. But, after a shooting at the arcade, most of her friends moved away, and now her best friend Kate’s parents’ corner store is vandalized and Kate is pushing her away. Nelo’s world is morphing into something she hates. Can she get things back on track before she loses everything and everyone she loves? |
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Say Her Name Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these inspirational poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality and the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating Black women and girls’ creativity, resilience, and courage. |
Some Other Now The Cohens were the family 17-year-old Jessi needed, her chosen family. Rowan was her best friend, Mel was the mother she always wanted, and Luke was… Luke. But then everything changed, and it’s been a year since Jessi visited the Cohens. It’s hard to ignore the past and Jessi can’t help wanting to go back—even if it means losing them forever this time. |
