30+ Resources to Help Teach Your Kids About Race and Racism

Resources on Race and Racism

For parents struggling to talk to their children about the current events surrounding race and racism, we have put together a list of books, videos, and other media based on age for parents to share with their children. 

Disclaimer: These resources are meant as a support to parents to educate and talk to their children about race and racism and should not be treated as the only material needed. 

Age 2–5  

Books

Say Something – Peter Reynolds (Starts at $9, amazon.com)

The World Needs More Purple People – Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart (Starts at $11, amazon.com)  

More, More, More Said the Baby – Vera B. Williams (Starts at $7, amazon.com)

Princess Hair – Sharee Miller (Starts at $7, amazon.com)

Lullaby – Langston Hughes (Starts at $14, amazon.com)

Age 6–11

Books

American Born Chinese – Gene Luen Yang (Starting at $8, amazon.com)

Let’s Talk About Race – Julius Lester (Starting at $8, amazon.com)

Something Happened in Our Town –  Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard (Starting at $0, amazon.com)

Last Stop on Market Street – Matt de la Peña (Starting at $11, amazon.com)

Brown Girl Dreaming – Jacqueline Woodson (Starting at $8, amazon.com)

Movies

  • The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (2019)
  • Queen of Katwe (2016)
  • Moana (2016)
  • The Princess and the Frog (2009)
  • The Wiz (1978)

Ages 12-18

Books

Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Starting at $8, amazon.com)

Almost American Girl – Robin Ha (Starting at $11, amazon.com)

The House on Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros (Starting at $7.50, amazon.com)

I Was Their American Dream – Malaka Gharib (Starting at $10, amazon.com)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie (Starting at $10, amazon.com)

The Complete Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi (Starting at $15, amazon.com)

Tyrell – Coe Booth (Starting at $6, amazon.com)

The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas (Starting at $11, amazon.com)

Movies:

  • Hidden Figures (2016)
  • Fences (2016)
  • The Great Debaters (2007)
  • Remember the Titans (2000)
  • The Color Purple (1985)
  • And the Children Shall Lead (1985)

Parents

Books

How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Racist Lessons of a Southern Childhood – Jim Grimsley (Starting at $10, amazon.com)

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches – Audre Lorde (Starting at $23, amazon.com)

Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates (Starting at $13, amazon.com)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race – Beverly Daniel Tatum (Starting at $13, amazon.com)

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education – Christopher Emdin (Starting at $13, amazon.com)

Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race – Derald Wing Sue (Starting at $16, amazon.com)

The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander (Starting at $10, amazon.com)

Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice – Paul Kivel (Starting at $13, amazon.com)

Waiting Till The Midnight Hour – Penial E. Joseph (Starting at $13, amazon.com)

Print

Movies:

  • American Son (2019)
  • Get Out (2017)
  • Moonlight (2016)
  • 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  • Malcolm X (1992)