Recent Award Winning Children's Books by Black Authors/IllustratorsLike this list

20 items

• All the Blues in the Sky

  Watson, Renée,

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  When thirteen-year-old Sage's best friend dies, Sage struggles with grief and feels that she is at fault, but when she joins a grief group, she slowly learns to heal. Ages 9 to 12. 2026 Newbery Award.

• An American Story

  Alexander, Kwame,

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  A picture book in verse that threads together past and present to explore the legacy of slavery during a classroom lesson. Ages 4 to 8. 2024 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

• Before the Ever After

  Woodson, Jacqueline,

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  For as long as ZJ can remember, his football star dad has been everyone's hero. But now everything is changing. Ages 10 and up. 2021 Coretta Scott King Author Award.

• Big

  Harrison, Vashti,

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  Praised for acting like a big girl when she is small, as a young girl grows, 'big' becomes a word of criticism, until the girl realizes that she is fine just the way she is. 2024 Caldecott Award, 2024 Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Honors.

• Choosing Brave

  How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement

  Joy, Angela, 1975-

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  The story of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son's death into a call to action for the civil rights movement. 2023 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, 2023 Caldecott Honor, 2023 Sibert Honor.

• Freewater

  Luqman-Dawson, Amina,

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  After fleeing the plantation where they were enslaved, siblings Ada and Homer discover the secret community of Freewater, 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Award and 2023 Newbery Award.

• Jimmy's Rhythm & Blues

  the Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin

  Meadows, Michelle,

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  James Baldwin discovered his true power in the written word, which opened the world to him as he used his voice fearlessl. 2025 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award.

• King and the Dragonflies

  Callender, Kacen,

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  In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself. Ages 8 to 12. 2020 National Book Award Winner and 2021 Coretta Scott King Author Honor.

• Kwame Crashes the Underworld

  Farmer, Craig Kofi,

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  Kwame falls into a magical whirlpool that leads straight to Asamando, the Ghanaian underworld. There, he comes face to face with his grandmother, who is somehow just...a kid? 2025 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award.

• The Library in the Woods

  Ramsey, Calvin A.,

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  When Junior moves to Roxboro, North Carolina, in 1959, new friends bring him to an incredible place. 2026 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and 2026 Coretta Scott King Author Honor.

• Me & Mama

  Cabrera, Cozbi A.,

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  For a little girl on a rainy day, the best place to be is with Mama. Ages 2 to 5. 2021 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and 2021 Caldecott Honor.

• The Me I Choose to Be

  Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia, 1971-

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  An uplifting story about self-confidence and a child's limitless potential. Ages 4 to 7. 2022 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award.

• My Daddy Is a Cowboy

  Seales, Stephanie,

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  A young Panamanian American girl and her father share 'just-us' time on an early morning horseback ride around their town. Ages 4 to 8. 2025 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

• Nell Plants a Tree

  Wynter, Anne,

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  Three generations of a family grow up and come together around one pecan tree. 2024 Ezra Jack Keats Award for Author Anne Wynter.

• Standing in the Need of Prayer

  a Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual

  Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-

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  The popular spiritual has been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American people and their history. 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner.

• Swim Team

  Christmas, Johnnie,

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  Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the school's failing team around. Ages 9 to 12. 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor.

• Twins

  Johnson, Varian,

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  Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good? Ages 8 to 12. 2023 Bluestem Award Winner (chosen by Illinois students in Grades 3 to 5).

• Unspeakable

  the Tulsa Race Massacre

  Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-

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  This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future. Ages 7 to 12. 2022 Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, 2022 Caldecott Honor, 2022 Sibert Honor.

• We Could Fly

  Giddens, Rhiannon, 1977-

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  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. Ages 6 to 9. 2024 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award.

• Will's Race for Home

  a Western

  Rhodes, Jewell Parker,

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  When Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free. 2026 Coretta Scott King Author Award.