AFRICAN DIASPORA LITERACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
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Children's Literature
Africa, African Brilliance, and African Languages
Colonization, Resistance, African Diaspora
AAL
“I really love language. I love it for what it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and delicacies of our existences. And when it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language." - Maya Angelou
Black Joy
Black Queer
- Sundiata: Lion King of Mali, by DavidWisniewski
- Mansa Musa and the empire of Mali, by James Oliver
- Kings and Queens of West Africa, by Sylviane Diouf (there is a series of these for different regions of Africa)
- Sense Pass King, by Katrin Hyman Tchana
- Moja means one: Swahili counting book, by Muriel Feelings and Tom Feelings
- Jambo means hello: Swahili alphabet book, by Muriel Feelings and Tom Feelings
- Africa Is Not a Country, by Margy Burns Knight, Jim Knight, Anne Sibley O'Brien
- Babu's Song, by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Aaron Boyd
- Baby Goes to Market, by Atinuke, Angela Brooksbank
- The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa, by Cristina Kessler
- Bintou's Braids, by Sylviane A. Diouf, Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer, Elizabeth Zunon
- Bundle of Secrets: Savita Returns Home, by Dr Mubina Hassanali Kirmani
- The Day Gogo Went to Vote, by Elinor Batezat Sisulu, Sharon Wilson (Illustrator)
- Desmond and the Very Mean Word, by Desmond Tutu, A. G. Ford (Illustrator)
- Galimoto, by Karen Lynn Williams, Catherine Stock (Illustrator)
- Grandma Comes to Stay, by Ifeoma Onyefulu
- Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt's Treasured Books, by Susan L. Roth
- I Am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon, by Miranda Paul
- Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, by Kathryn Erskine
- The Matatu, by Eric Walters, Eva Campbell (Illustrator)
- My Rows and Piles of Coins, by Tololwa M. Mollel
- Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Abridged by Chris Van Wyk, Paddy Bouma
- One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, by Miranda Paul
- Ostrich and Lark, by Marilyn Nelson, Artists of the Kuru Art Project in Botsw (Illustrator)
- S Is for South Africa, by Beverley Naidoo, Prodeepta Das (Illustrator)
- Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace, by Jen Johnson, Sonia Sadler (Illustrator)
- Sing to the Moon, by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn (Illustrator)
- Sleep Well Siba & Saba, by Nansubuga Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn
- Wangari Maatthai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees, by Franck Pravot
- When I Get Older: The Story Behind "Wavin'' Flag", by K'Naan with Sol Guy
- When Mama Braids My Hair, by Monique Duncan
- The Wooden Camel, by Wanuri Kahiu, Manuela Adrean
- Thank you, Omu!, by Oge Mora
Colonization, Resistance, African Diaspora
- A Likkle Miss Lou, by Nadia Hohn
- Janjank and Freda Go to the Iran Market, by Elizabeth Turnbull
- Haiti: The First Black Republic, by Jr. Frantz Derenoncourt
- Tap-Tap, by Karen Lynn Williams
- Freedom Soup, by Tami Charles
- The Undefeated, by Kwame Alexander
- Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston
- Sojourner’s Truth: Step-Stomp-Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney
- Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, by Ellen Levine
- Show Way, by Jacqueline Woodson
- Walking Home to Rosie Lee, by A. LaFaye
- Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town: Based On the History of the African American Pioneer Settlement, by A. LaFaye
- Circle Unbroken, by Margot Theis Raven
- In The Time of the Drums, by Kim Siegelson
- Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, by Laban Hill
- Love Twelve Miles Long, by Glenda Armand
- Africa is My Home: A child of the Amistad, by Monica Edinger
- Never Caught The Story of Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
AAL
“I really love language. I love it for what it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and delicacies of our existences. And when it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language." - Maya Angelou
- Mother to Son by Langston Hughes [Poem]
- Honey Baby Sugar Child by Alice Duncan
- She Come Bringing me that baby girl by Eloise Greenfield
- Jazz by Walter Dean Myers
- Stevie by John Steptoe
- Sing to the Stars by Mary Brigid Barrett
- The Barber’s Cutting Edge by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert
- Honey, I love by Eloise Greenfield
- Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson
- What is Given from the heart by Patricia McKissack
- Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia McKissac
Black Joy
- I am every good thing, by derrick Barnes
- Black Magic, by Dinah johnson
- Hey Black Child, by Useni Eugene Perkins
- He’s got the whole world in his hands, by kadir nelson
- Crown an ode to the fresh cut, by derrick barnes
- Baby Blessings, by Deloris Johnson
- Kitchen Dance, by Maurie J. Manning
- Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, by Nikki Grimes
- Full, Full, Full of Love, by Trish Cooke
- Peakaboo Bedime, by Rachel Isadora
- The King of Kindergarten, by Derrick Barnes
- Jabari Jumps, by Gia Cornwall
- Keat’s Neighborhood, by Ezra Keats
- Come on Rain, by Karen Hesse
- Bedtime Bonnet, by Nancy Redd
- The Night is Yours, by Abdul Razak Zachariah
- Your Name is a song, by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
- Hair Love, by Matthew A. Cherry
Black Queer
- When Aidan became a brother, by Kyle Lukoff
- Julian is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love
- I am perfectly designed, by Karamo Brown
- Just like you, by Ki
- Baby’s First Words, by Stella Blackstone
- A Church for all, by Gayle E. Pitman
- Umi and Uma: The Story of Two Mommies and a baby, by Nyesha and Samantha Davis-Williams
- They, She, He easy as ABC, by Maya Christina Gonzalez
- It Feels Good to be Yourself: A Book about gender identity, by Theresa Thorn
- Pink is for Boys, by Robb Pearlman