It’s important to have children’s books in your home that feature diverse people. Raising the next generation to be inclusive and ant-racist starts at home. It’s at home and through play where children learn about their world and begin to form their opinions.
Books that simply feature diverse characters are a good place to start for babies and younger toddlers. Books that speak on topics of diversity and inclusion are appropriate for preschool-aged children. Both of these provide exposure and provide an opportunity for parents to talk about these issues further.
We’ve put together a list of books on diversity for toddlers and preschoolers. It’s not an all-inclusive list, but it’s a great place to start if you’re looking to add books about diversity to your collection.
To makes things easier, you can get all of these recommended books from Target – we added links for your convenience (though many are very popular right now so may be sold out!).
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. What does this mean?
Hair Love depicts a hair-styling session between a Black father and daughter. We love the storyline and the message of self-confidenc and loving your hair! This book is written by former NFL wide-receiver Matthew A. Cherry and was turned into a short film which received an Oscar!
Making Faces is a board book all about emotions. This book features children of diverse skin colors. Kids are asked to practice making faces associated with each emotion. There’s also a mirror on the last page which adds to the fun.
Note: There is some controversy around this book – the book goes through 5 different emotions, like shown above: Happy, Sad, Angry, Surprised, and Silly. The non-white babies were used to illustrate emotions Sad, Angry and Surprised, while the white babies were used to illustrate the emotions Happy and Silly. Although each baby is shown on the right cycling through all the emotions, the pictures are smaller and not the primary focus of the story. Some have voiced concerns over the use of the non-white babies with the more negative emotions (and we agree – we wish this was done differently!).
The Skin You Live In is a book that not only features children of different colors, but also discusses the different colors skin can come in.
This series of board books features close-up photographs of babies’ faces. This series features children of different skin colors and ethnicities. The series has four books: Global Babies, American Babies, Global Baby Boys and Global Baby Girls.
All Are Welcome is a New York Times Bestseller that features a diverse group of children and teaches the message that no matter what you wear, what you look like or where you’re from, all are welcome!
It’s OK to be Different teaches that “Every Child is Unique! And individuality should be celebrated, not shunned. This inspiring and brightly illustrated rhyming picture book highlights all the ways kids are different helping children to accept themselves as the beautifully unique individuals that they are. Whether it’s liking to swim, dance, sing, or bike. Whether they are big or small, short or tall, have glasses, talk differently, have special needs or have a different ethnic background. It’s OK to be Different encourages kids to accept and befriend those who are different from themselves, showing young children that they don’t have to look alike or enjoy doing the same activities to be kind to one another. Readers will come away the message: “You should always be kind to those who are different from you. Because to them, YOU are different too”.
Dream Big Little One is a board book that features 18 trailblazing Black women in American history
I Am Enough is a New York Times Bestseller. We love its empowering message of “We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it”.
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