Celebrating Black Boys in Literature: #BLACKBOYJOY

In our house we LOVE reading! Well, I love reading. As a former educator, I believe firmly in children expressing themselves through literature. Even before the boys could show interest in books, I made sure they played a huge part in their upbringing. We read books every night before bed, sometimes 1 book or sometimes 5 (they sucker me into reading more). So with reading being apart of our nighttime routine, I realized quickly how important is was for me to find books that represented my young black boys. Now don't me wrong, we read our fair share of Paw Patrol and Llama Llama books, however; I've made it a point to showcase black authors or books that have black boys as the main characters.

During the #blacklivesmatter movement that is sweeping our country, it is important more than ever to empower my boys to love their culture, their skin, their hair, the very specific things that make them who they are. It is important to show historical black figures that are scientist, politicians, athletes, doctors, lawyers, engineers, so they see black men in a positive light due to all the negative news being showcased every time we turned on the TV.

Below, I've showcased a few books that I recommend for your home library and school library, no matter the race of your child. These books celebrate #blackboyjoy! These books range from basic story books (birth- 7) to more complex reads for older children (8-12). Happy Reading!