Black History Month: Book List

(This book list has now been updated at http://canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.ca/2016/02/black-history-month-updated-youngcanlit.html)

There could never be enough books to inform young Canadians about the history of the Black community in Canada and elsewhere. In this list of picture books, fiction and non-fiction titles, a small portion of that history, both the trials and the achievements, are noted.

PICTURE BOOKS

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine (Great Ideas Series)
by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by Bill Slavin
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2010
Biography

From Lands of the Night
by Tololwa M. Mollel
Illustrated by Darrell McCalla
Red Deer Press
32 pp.
Ages 7+
January, 2014
East African traditional stories, celebration

Mayann's Train Ride
by The Honourable Mayann Francis
Illustrated by Tamara Thiébaux Heikalo
Nimbus Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 4-9
2015

Biography

Nana's Cold Days
by Adwoa Badoe
Illustrated by Bushra Junaid
Groundwood
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2002

The Orphan Boy
by Tololwa M. Mollel
Illustrated by Paul Morin
Oxford University Press
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
1990
Masai folklore




A Pot of Wisdom: Ananse Stories
by Adwoa Badoe
Illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité
Groundwood
62 pp.
Ages 7-10
2001
African folklore 

Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!

by Jody Nyasha Warner
Illustrated by Richard Rudnicki
Groundwood
32 pp.
Ages 7-10
2010
Biography, civil rights

FICTION

Between Sisters
by Adwoa Badoe
Groundwood
205 pp.
Ages 13+
2010
Ghana

Cape Town
by Brenda Hammond
Great Plains Teen Fiction
326 pp.
Ages 14+
2012
Apartheid, South Africa

 

Chanda’s Secrets
by Allan Stratton
Annick
193 pp.
Ages 12-15
2004
HIV/AIDS

Chanda’s War
by Allan Stratton
HarperCollins
382 pp.
Ages 13-17
2008
Civil war, child soldiers

Crossing to Freedom
by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Scholastic Canada
231 pp.
Ages 10+
2010
Slavery, freedom

Dark of the Moon
by Barbara Haworth-Attard
Roussan Publishers
136 pp.
Ages 9-12
1995
Underground Railroad

A Desperate Road to Freedom: The Underground Railroad Diary of Julia May Jackson (Dear Canada)
by Karleen Bradford
Scholastic Canada
240 pp.
Ages 9-13
2009
Slavery, Underground Railroad

Elijah of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Canada
288 pp.
Ages 9+
2007
Freedom, slavery, Ontario

The Freedom of Jenny
by Julie Burtinshaw
Raincoast Books
182 pp.
Ages 7-10
2005
Underground Railroad, British Columbia

The Gospel Truth
by Caroline Pignat
Red Deer Press
328 pp.
Ages 12+
2014

Slavery, freedom

Grease Town
by Ann Towell
Tundra
192 pp.
Ages 10-13
2010
Racism, Ontario

The House of Good Spirits
by Donn Kushner
Lester & Orpen Dennys
214 pp.
Ages 12-15
1990
Racism, slavery, African folktales

Hurry, Freedom (A Canadian Flyer Adventure)
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Dean Griffiths
Maple Tree Press
81 pp.
Ages 6-9
2008
Underground Railroad

I Came as a Stranger: The Underground Railroad
by Bryan Prince
Tundra Books
160 pp.
Ages 11-14
2004
Underground Railroad, slavery

If I Just Had Two Wings
by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Stoddart Kids
221 pp.
Ages 11+
2001
Underground Railroad, slavery

Last Days in Africville
by Dorothy Perkyns
Sandcastle Books/Beach Holme
110 pp.
Ages 8-12
2003
Africville, Nova Scotia, racism

The Madman of Piney Woods

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic

384 pp.

Ages 9+

2014

Forty years after Elijah of Buxton

Morning Star
by Judith Plaxton
Second Story Press
277 pp.
Ages 11-14
2011
Underground Railroad

My Name is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
by Afua Cooper
Kid Can Press
160 pp.
Ages 10-14
2009
Biography, slavery, abolitionism

My Name is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
by Afua Cooper
Kid Can Press
152 pp.
Ages 11+
2009
Biography, slavery, poetry

Rachel: Certificate of Freedom (Our Canadian Girl)
by Lynne Kositsky
Penguin Canada
112 pp.
Ages 8-12
2003
Slavery, racism, freedom, Nova Scotia  

Rachel: An Elephant Tree Christmas (Our Canadian Girl)
by Lynne Kositsky
Penguin Canada
84 pp.
Ages 9-11
2004
Racism, Nova Scotia

Rachel: The Maybe House (Our Canadian Girl)
by Lynne Kositsky
Penguin Canada
83 pp.
Ages 9-11
2002
Loyalists, slavery, racism, Nova Scotia

Rachel: A Mighty Big Imagining (Our Canadian Girl)
by Lynne Kositsky
Penguin Books
64 pp.
Ages 8-11
2001
Slavery, freedom

 

Seas of South Africa (Submarine Outlaw series)
by Philip Roy
Ronsdale Press
200 pp.
Ages 10+
2013
Racism, violence, South Africa, apartheid

Send One Angel Down
by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Holiday House
163 pp.
Ages 12-14
2000
Slavery, racism

Stones
by William Bell
Doubleday Canada
210 pp.
Ages 10+
2001
Racism, intolerance

Underground to Canada
by Barbara Smucker
Puffin Canada
144pp.
Ages 9-12
2003
Slavery, Underground Railroad, freedom

Zack
by William Bell
Doubleday Canada
165 pp.
Ages 12-16
1998
Slavery, racism, Richard Pierpoint

NON-FICTION

Africans Thought of It: Amazing Innovations
by Bathseba Opini and Richard B. Lee
Annick Press
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
2011
Inventions

The Bite of the Mango
by Mariatu Kumara with Susan McClelland
Annick Press
216 pp.
Ages 14+
2008
Sierra Leone, civil war

Children of Africville
by Christine Welldon
Nimbus
81 pp.
Ages 8-12
2009
Africville, racism

Five Thousand Years of Slavery
by Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen
Tundra
168 pp.
Ages 11-16
2011
Slavery

Harriet Tubman: Freedom Seeker, Freedom Leader (A Quest Biography)
by Rosemary Sadlier
Dundurn
190 pp.
2012
Biography, Harriet Tubman

How the Blacks Created Canada
by Fil Fraser
Dragon Hill
255 pp.
Ages 16+
2009
Settlement, Canada

Jailed for Being Black: The Story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (Real Justice)

by Bill Swan

Lorimer

144 pp.

Ages 13-17

2014

Biography, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, injustice, racism

The Kids Book of Black Canadian History
by Rosemary Sadlier
Illustrated by Wang Qijun
Kids Can Press
56 pp.
Ages 9-12
2003
Canada, history

Nelson Mandela: Champion of Freedom (Remarkable People series)
by Simon Rose
Weigl Publishers
24 pp.
Ages 8-12
2010
Nelson Mandela, South Africa

On an American Day: Story Voyages Through History, 1759-1899
by Rona Arato
Illustrated by Ben Shannon
Owlkids Books
96 pp.
Ages 9-13
2011

On a Canadian Day: Nine Story Voyages Through History
by Rona Arato
Illustrated by Peter Ferguson
Maple Tree Press/Owlkids Books
96 pp.
Ages 9-13
2009
Underground Railroad

Out of Slavery: The Journey to Amazing Grace
by Linda Granfield
Illustrated by Janet Wilson
Tundra Books
40 pp.
Ages 9+
2009
Slavery, John Newton

People Who Said No: Courage Against Oppression
by Laura Scandiffio
Annick Press
168 pp.
Ages 9-14
2012
Civil rights, Rosa Parks, NAACP, apartheid, South Africa

Season of Rage: Hugh Burnett and the Struggle for Civil Rights
by John Cooper
Tundra Books
71 pp.
Ages 10-15
2005
Racism, civil rights, Ontario

Singing Towards the Future: The Story of Portia White (Stories of Canada)
by Lian Goodall
Illustrated by Liz Milkau
Napoleon Publishing
63 pp.
Ages 9-11
2004
Biography, Portia White

Stay Strong: A Musician's Journey from Congo

by Natalie Hyde

Clockwise Press

160 pp.

Ages 12-16

2015

Biography

Talking about Freedom: Celebrating Emancipation Day in Canada
by Natasha L. Henry
Dundurn
174 pp.
Ages 12+
2012
Slavery, emancipation

To Stand and Fight Together: Richard Pierpoint and the Coloured Corps of Upper Canada
by Steve Pitt
Dundurn
144 pp.
Ages 10+
2008
War of 1812, Richard Pierpoint, soldiers, Canada

Trials and Triumphs: The Story of African-Canadians
by Lawrence Hill
Umbrella Press
64 pp.
Ages 11+
1993
Settlement, slavery, racism, achievements

The Underground Railroad: The Long Journey to Freedom in Canada (Amazing Stories)
by L. D. Cross
James Lorimer
144 pp.
Ages 12+
2010
Slavery, Underground Railroad, freedom

Willie O'Ree: The Story of the First Black Player in the NHL (Recordbooks)
by Nicole Mortillaro
James Lorimer
140 pp.
Ages 11-13
2012
Biography, hockey, Willie O'Ree

Working for Freedom: The Story of Josiah Henson
by Rona Arato
Napoleon
78 pp.
Ages 10-13
2009
Biography, Josiah Henson, slavery, Underground Railroad

PLAYS

In the Freedom of Dreams: The Story of Nelson Mandela
by Michael A. Miller
Playwrights Canada Press
67 pp.
Ages 14+
2003
Biography, Nelson Mandela

FILMS

Loyalties: A Trip Down Slavery Lane
Directed by Lesley Ann Patten
Produced by Kent Martin and Lesley Ann Patten
National Film Board of Canada
57 min., 3 sec.
Ages 11+
1999
Heritage, slavery, South Carolina, Halifax