Recommendations for each of the 7 principles of Kwanzaa:
Umoja (Unity) | Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) | Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) | Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) | Nia (Purpose) | Kuumba (Creativity) | Imani (Faith)
Looking for more recommendations? Submit a request for a Personalized Reading List and library staff will curate a list for your needs.
A little boy adores his big brother, who is always there for him, playing with him and teaching him things.
A picture book exploring the idea of ubuntu--a concept of shared humanity, compassion, and oneness.
Ameena feels invisible. It's been that way since she started at her new school. But now there is another new girl in class. Ameena sees her brownness, her hijab, even though the other kids do not. Ameena wants to be her friend, but she can't seem to find the right words or do the right things. Until one day, they find them together.
A young Black girl pays homage to her late Mama and brings solace to her family through a treasured family recipe. Includes a recipe for peach cobbler.
When Hana's grandparents visit, Hana decides to cook a meal that represents both her Korean and Southern heritages.
Illustrates the power and bonds of sisterhood through step.
A little girl struggling to find her place within her family is shown how special she is through a set of nesting dolls.
Discover the history and importance of Kwanzaa, a week-long December holiday celebrated in Black, African, and African American culture.
Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it, and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to get it away from the creature, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted.
Kwesi doesn't know how to swim and discovers his grandmother, Nana Ruby, doesn't either, so they turn to the West African legend of Mami Wata to face their fears, in an intergenerational story about the importance of naming, acknowledging and facing fears.
Mama takes her two daughters to the library every summer to pick out books about Black people so they can see the struggles, strength, and hope of people who look like them.
Eleven-year-old Kylie's friends seem so much more mature than she is. And with middle school just a summer away, she's worried her friends might leave her behind, especially because she keeps embarrassing them. So Kylie applies her scientific brain to solve the problem and comes up with the Everybody Experiment. Hypothesis: Kylie Stanton will be mature if she does what everybody else does. Experiment: This summer, when all of Kylie's friends do something, she will do it, too.
Joyful illustrations and poetic text convey a wish from one generation to the next: that every Black girl knows and celebrates her own worth, sending positive words to instill them with confidence.
Seven-year-old J.C. and his friends are planning on going to the park, but first Jalen's mother insists they help the new neighbor move in--a delay that results in an unexpected benefit.
There's breaking news on TV at Frankie's house--a protest to demand justice! Frankie's mama, a journalist, gets a call to cover the story, and Frankie wants to do her own reporting, too. But what is a protest, exactly, and why do people do it? Along with her news crew, including Farrah the doll, Dan the teddy bear, and Nina the cat, Frankie prepares a feature story by doing research and conducting interviews with Papa and big sister Raven. And when the toys decide to have their own protest in support of the local movement, Frankie is on the scene to help make signs, march, and, of course, get the scoop!
When Imani becomes disheartened by nay-sayers of her plan to cleanup the beach, her grandmother offers her much needed encouragement.
Motivated by the realization of global inequities, a young boy embraces his dual identities as an artist and activist, becoming an "Artivist" to make a difference by using his viral mural as a catalyst for positive change.
When twin sisters Neecy and Nay Nay open a salon for a class assignment, they discover styling is much harder than they thought.
Nonbinary Kit learns water divining, well digging, and respect for the Earth from their traditional grandfather.
A little boy is excited to work alongside his Papa as they collect eggs, plums, peppers, and pumpkins to sell at their stand in the farmer's market, but when Papa cannot make it to the stand, his community gathers around him, with dishes made of his own produce.
Spend Saturday morning at the barbershop in this upbeat celebration of the spaces and places that bring communities together.
In the small town of Great Mountain, Mississippi, all eyes are on Henson Blayze, a thirteen-year-old football phenom who many have wondered if he was super-human. The predominately white townsfolk have been waiting for Henson to play high-school ball, and now they're overjoyed to finally possess an elite Black athlete of their own. Until a horrifying incident forces Henson to speak out about injustice. Until he says that he might not play football anymore. Until he quickly learns he isn't as loved by the people as he thought.
From the award-winning author of Root Magic comes the story of a girl forced to spend the summer with a great-grandmother she's never met--only to discover she runs a school for Southern conjure magic.
Twelve-year-old Lamar dreams of becoming a filmmaker, but when his grandfather is killed in a racist act of violence, Lamar becomes determined to honor his legacy by documenting the fight for justice.
From scribbling words on the page to spitting rhymes on the mic, a joyful narrator guides readers through the emotions, literary techniques, structures and motifs that help make rap so amazing.
Split between two worlds, his real one, in which he's a lonely, bullied kid, and a magical realm called the Sanctuary, eleven-year-old Charles finds reality and imagination colliding when evil moves into his apartment building, and he must harness the power of his creativity to save both worlds.
A child discovers his distinguished heritage through the achievements of Black leaders from sports, entertainment, law, and leadership.
Sometimes Maya feels a warm glow inside, but sometimes she feels a different kind of glow, and a trip to the library helps Maya discovers how Black women throughout history used their feelings to help change the world for the better.
An engaging picture book celebrating the beautiful traditions of Kwanzaa.
At a sparrow's urging, a young girl feels a mysterious trembling in her arms, a lightness in her feet, a longing to be free. Her mother tells her that her Granny Liza experienced the same, as did many of their people before her. Perhaps it's time, Mama says, to slip the bonds of earth and join the journey started long ago. To hold each other tight and rise.
A girl connects with heritage, history, and a higher power through the lyrics of twelve beloved spirituals and four seminal events in African American history.
A multi-generational family history told in the voices of the author's ancestors, spanning enslavement alongside Frederick Douglass at Maryland's Wye House plantation, service in the U.S. Colored Troops, and the founding of all-Black Reconstruction-era communities.