Because I was a girl mom first, my boys inherited shelves full of chapter books featuring black girls. I took care to add picture books featuring black boys early on, but my oldest son turned seven last week, and it’s definitely time to expand his horizons. Billy and Blaze have been good to him, but I see the way he caresses his sisters’ books, and I want him to have his own treasures that he can enjoy alongside theirs because yes, my son reads “girl” books too. And he enjoys them. But there is something extra special about seeing yourself reflected in the pages of a book.
If I included books about black boys playing sports, this list would probably triple, but that is not the only thing I want my son to see. Don’t get me wrong, sports are fun, and I have included a basketball and football book (not pictured) in the bunch, but sports do not represent the totality of who black boys are or can be. And although my guy likes to throw any kind of ball around with Daddy in the evenings, he prefers tennis and golf (like father, like son) and spends most of his active time on his bike, his skateboard, the zipline, and the trampoline – in between searching for crawdads and picking cicada exoskeletons off the trees. He’s a free spirit, and I want him to know that all of those things in equal number, or in a completely lop-sided arrangement, are more than okay to his mama.
So as I was pulling these books together for the post, I had some thoughts rolling around in my head. One of the thoughts was this:
I’ve come so far in this journey, and EVEN SO, I still feel butterflies in my stomach when I know that I’m about to present a bunch of books to Charlotte Mason moms that they are not going to consider living books, for the most part. I have 100% settled it in my mind that life-giving books are and always will be a major part of my home, but I can’t help thinking that some of you are going to read this list, buy one of the books, and then be disappointed to find that it is not Little Lord Fauntleroy with an afro.
So now that we have established what these books are not, let’s talk about what they are.
These books are the bomb!
And let me tell you why.
The pictures alone provide ridiculous mirrors for brown-skinned boys, but the words inside take it even further. The descriptions, for once, reflect back with images and adjectives black boys can relate to and understand. The scenarios are familiar, and my brown babies can stand tall with one of these books in each hand and another under each arm. And who knows? They may even fall asleep with a little “brown boy joy” on the pillow.
And the windows?
Oh, the windows are huge. These books show non-black & brown boys that skin color doesn’t change a boy’s drive for adventure or his love for his family. Brown skin doesn’t make a boy more or less likely to step into a puddle of mischief or try to tackle a problem way too big for his not-yet-a-man britches. And brown skin certainly doesn’t make boys, or men, scary.
But these mirrors & windows don’t exist because the books are about being black. No. It’s just the opposite! In this case, it’s because the books are just about boys having fun. The boys happen to be black, but the books are not about the boys being black. Do you see the difference? I know there are a lot of italicized words squeezed up into that sentence, but I’m writing the way that I’m talking, and I’m EXCITED right now.
It’s important to read historical fiction that tells of the struggles and triumphs of black people. Important might not even be the word. It is imperative that our children read those books…but they are not enough.
Our children – yours and mine – also need to hear about black boys solving mysteries, dodging shady dogs, taking care of others, building things, talking to people, and just doing fun stuff. No agenda. No school lesson. Just life.
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- STAT: Standing Tall and Talented by Amar’e Stoudemire
- Ellray Jakes by Sally Warner
- Tippy Lemmey by Patricia C. McKissack (One of our favorite authors!)
- Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
- Clubhouse Mysteries by Sharon M. Draper
- The Carver Chronicles: Dog Days by Karen English
- Miami Jackson Gets It Straight by Patricia C. McKissack
- The No. 1 Car Spotter by Atinuke (Author of our beloved Anna Hibiscus)
- Jaden Toussaint, The Greatest by Marti Dumas
- The Akimbo Adventures by Alexander McCall Smith (Author of the sweet Precious Ramotswe mysteries)
- Kid Caramel, Private Investigator by Dwayne Ferguson
- Barber Game Time Books: Go Long! by Tiki and Ronde Barber (Not pictured because I can’t find it!)
Notes:
- Most of these books are part of a series. I may not have the first book pictured because we have a lot of them and I just grabbed what I could get my hands on first, but I’ve linked the first book in the series. I love a fun series because once I’ve cleared the first book, I can usually clear the entire series with confidence and no pre-reading. I don’t pace my son on these books. If you can read it, go for it! If you can’t read it, bargain with one of your sisters or bug your dad to read it aloud because I’m busy blogging {smile}.
- These books target 2nd-4th grade. However, I think older reluctant readers will love them and even boys who can read harder books will enjoy gobbling them up as a break from the intensity of their school books.
- Every scene of every book is not filled with literary genius. Remember what I said earlier? These guys are not Peter Pan or Robin Hood. That’s not what we’re doing here. When I started introducing these types of books to my kids, I occasionally stumbled across things that weren’t necessarily bad, but they were…different. It felt like there was quite a jump from the sweet picture books we’d been reading to some of these books that had things we hadn’t really encountered in our typical literature at that time. No curse words or inappropriate relationships – nothing like that AT ALL. Perhaps some of the scenes just have common school yard “nothingness.” That’s the only word I can come up with. Some scenes of nothingness. My kids are a little older now and my understanding of their needs has evolved, so frankly, the stuff doesn’t bother me anymore, but I remember feeling slightly annoyed at times with books like these, and I don’t want you to feel that way. I’d much rather a scene of nothingness in a life-giving book than a scene of blatant racism in a “really good” living book.
Exposing children to the finest literature available while leaving them with an impression that “white is fun and black is not” doesn’t feel like a win to me. I hope you’ll give yourself permission to expand the pool of possibilities in order to expose your kiddos to the awesome boys in these books. Happy reading!
You can find me on Instagram at @HeritageMomBlog.
We just bought Tippy Lemmey on your recommendation for my 6yo and it was a great fit for him!
That is one of my all-time favorites. It was one of the first chapter books I found that perfectly executed what I was looking for – black kids just being kids. I wish she had written a series more like Tippy Lemmey. She did write the Miami Jackson series here, but nothing has quite captured the feeling of Tippy for me.
Thanks for this. My special guy turned 6 last week and he’s WAY into non fiction animal books. His lil sister is a story girl, so most books appeal to her. I want to get him into chapter books soon. These are a great place to start.
I cannot wait to order some of these books for my boys! We already have many fun brown boy joy picture books but I’ve just started searching for chapter books for my oldest and wasn’t sure where to begin and I just didn’t want to go the Charlotte’s Web/Encyclopedia Brown route right now. But of course, you’ve given me exactly what I needed again.
Have you heard of the Buzz Beaker book series? It’s about a little brown boy who is an inventor and scientist (his dad is a scientist) and he brings his ideas to life. My oldest who is a self proclaimed future engineer enjoys them so much. We’ve gotten several from the library but they are hard to find to purchase.
I hadn’t heard of Buzz Beaker, but I just watched a video on YouTube. Too cute! My boys will love this. Thank you for sharing 🙂
My boys (ages 8 and 7) have enjoyed The Carver Chronicles, Clubhouse Mysteries and Jaden Toussaint series. I’m finding it difficult to find books for their age that are both good and age appropriate. It’s like there is very little for Black boys that are in the 7-10 age range. Im going to look for some of the other suggestions. I always enjoy your book recommendations.
I completely agree. It really hasn’t been easy. That’s why I’m at least thankful for the fact that a lot of these are series because it takes him longer to get through them all. There should be more though.
No Toothpaste Millionaire? My boys loved that book!
We don’t have that one yet! I only included the books we own, but I will grab it and include it in the next list. Thank you for the recommendation 🙂
The Akimbo Adventures were the first chapter books my son read on his own. They’re a huge favorite here. I’m looking forward to checking out more of the books on your list.
Yes! We found those because we loved his Precious Ramotswe books so much, and we were delighted with Akimbo, too.
Thank you so much for this list!! Highly recommend Kid Caramel, Miami Jackson and Dragons in a bag. Those were a hit for us.
I’m so happy to hear that your family enjoyed some of these!
My son is going to be so excited to have some more books, and these look great! So many are on my list now!
That’s great! I hope he’s happy with them.
I haven’t read it to my boys yet, but Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe is excellent!
This looks great! I just added it to my “to be purchased” list. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
This is perfect! My little soon-to-be-7yo Ethan has been telling me, “mom, I want to read ‘chunky’ books now! And he keeps asking. This list is sooo helpful. It cuts out so very much of my time searching because I trust your recommendations and I really appreciate your perspective on “living” vs. “life-giving”.
I really hope he enjoys some of these books! My 7 year old has been gobbling them up. Sometimes he just stares at the covers and pictures inside, lol.
Oh my gosh! I could cry tears of joy! My boy is 8 and is biracial. I struggle with what to give him for good reading and a positive mirror. This is GOLD! Thank you from this homeschool mama’s heart! Can’t wait to buy them for Christmas!
That makes me so happy! I’m really glad that you found this post, and I hope he loves the ones you choose.
My got Akimbo and No. 1 car spotter for my 6 1/2 year old son. We are doing No. 1 Car Spotter as a read aloud for just the two of us while his sister is at dance class. For Akimbo, we are ‘tag team’ reading together; I do odd pages and he reads even…because he likes even numbers. Akimbo is helping to expand his vocabulary while allowing him to read to me with little difficulty. Thanks for both these suggestions!
My son is 7 and those are two of his favorites! Auntie Fine Fine cracks him up every time, lol. And we also read Akimbo together. That’s too funny. Great minds think alike!
Thank you so much for this thoughtfully curated list! I’m a white mom who was a real bookworm as a kid. I was so excited when my kids were old enough to start doing read alouds with the classics of my childhood. Little did I realize (or remember) how many side conversations we would have to have and how many parts I just skipped right over because it was too much. I know those conversations are important, but we need a balance where we are not defending or validating the value of black lives but celebrating and even just normalizing. Really looking forward to digging in to these books!
I’m so glad that you understand where I’m coming from here. Balance is the perfect word!
Hi! I’m a children’s librarian and came across this post I think the ‘nothingness’, for me, has evolved into ‘Black people existing’. Just being regular people with day to day activities. The characters in this book get into ‘regular degular’ kid nothingness, as you put it, and I think there’s tremendous value in that. It gives our kids the space to know that you just being here is a story worth sharing.
Oh, how I love your thoughts on this! Yes, I believe that you’re right. “You just being here is a story worth sharing.” Thank you! I’m curious. Do you have any books that you’d add to this list?