The newest school year is almost here for us, hooray! Is there anything more exciting than opening a fresh box of school supplies and educational materials? Ok, ok, I can think of a few things, but this is definitely in the top 10! I’m really excited about kicking things off, especially because it is the first year of officially homeschooling two kiddos! That’s right, I’m the proud parent of a 6th grader (OMG MIDDLE SCHOOL) and a kindergartener!
Let me tell you though, there have been some serious panic moments about starting off my little kindy girl on the right foot, I’m her first real schooling experience. Talk about pressure. One thing I am absolutely mandating are books that are socially conscious and promote people of color and women in roles that, frankly, are hard to always see. The world is a complex place and I really feel that little ones are capable to understand and act with compassion if given the right tools. That being said, I’ve loaded up on some really fantastic books for our home library to enhance her lessons and life. I did some real searching for titles that were written by women or POC, told their stories, and titles that featured a beautiful amount of diversity with important life lessons.
Lets see what made the cut! I would say these titles range from pre-K through 5th grade level.
*Just a note, this post contains affiliate links. I have not been paid for my opinions here, but may receive compensation if you decide to use my links for purchasing.*
1. Ada Lovelace Poet of Science
Ada is credited to writing the first computer language! Using to coincide with her engineering portion of science class. Lots of promotion of science and math for women, talks about how it was not recommended for women in her time.
2. I Dissent, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
RGB has garnished mixed feelings, even among activists, but I still really enjoyed this. It talks a lot about her early life and career of bucking gender norms to get to her position and that it’s ok to not be a stereotypical girl.
3. Say Hello!
Really cute illustrations, a Latina girl walks through her city neighborhood and greets people and families in a variety of languages.
This was a random buy in-person, so I wasn’t able to vet the author. I did a little eye roll at the “urban” attempt by the girl’s friends in the park, a kid calls a dog “snoop dog”. Sooooo….lol other then that.
4. Peace is an Offering
Really beautiful book for any time about peace and kindness. Features a diverse range of people. It does briefly mention loss in a few different ways, but does not specifically mention death (implied loss of a pet and 9/11). Safe for secular families.
5. Last Stop on Market Street
Story about a boy and his grandma (POC) riding the bus through their city. The boy is a typical kid, wondering out loud why he doesn’t have things others have or why people are different (tattoos, blind). Grandma has answers that foster appreciation of everyone’s differences and uniqueness. Gratitude and compassion is a theme, the book ends with them helping at a community soup kitchen (not detailed, but pictured). New berry, Coretta Scott King, and Caldecott award winner, written by POC and reflected their life. Lots of diversity. Note: secular families, the book does start with them leaving church. That is the only religious content.
6. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
Same author as the New York Times bestselling novel, based on the novel and not the movie (the movie took some creative license). Very wordy for younger kids, but still really engaging! It discusses segregation outside of the storyline as well. Timeline of NASA and biographies of each woman in the end.
7. Mae Among the Stars
About the first black, female astronaut! It does include how she was discouraged by a teacher and mocked by classmates, but still achieved her dreams. Really beautiful artwork!
8. The Water Princess
Addresses communities without water, but still shows the beauty of the land and people. The story was based on an actual woman from a Burkina Faso that now runs charities to bring water to the people so that the women and girls have educational opportunities.
9. This Is How We Do It
Really cool book! They collected and illustrated the stories of real, modern kids in 7 different countries! They talk about their nicknames, languages, customs, families, etc.
The kids range between 7 and 11 years old, but all are pretty relatable. Nice to see similarities and differences across the globe!
10. If You Were a Kid During the Civil Rights Movement
This one is really heavy imo, but well done. It describes a fictional set of kids in Oklahoma during the civil rights era getting involved with activism. Each page is paired with a real life blurb to bring the fiction to life and show this is more than a story, these are real things that happened. They did not whitewash the fact that police brutality and violence against activists existed/exists.
11. Little People Big Dreams Series
I bought several in this series because they were adorable 
😂 they had really great, little kid friendly versions of notable people. We own the books on Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, and Frida Kahlo. We will definitely be buying more of these!
12. Ordinary People Change the World Series
Another really cute series on notable figures. We currently own the books on Harriet Tubman and Jane Goodall. These are so well done, another series we are going to need to invest in!
13. Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas
This has really great photos and the book is pretty large. It would be good for reference or circle time/animal unit studies. It seems to be a favorite among homeschoolers!
14. Brave as Can Be
We already own another book in this series about feelings, so I was excited to find this one (especially since we’ve been dealing with monsters under the bed). Not specifically for school, but a good one!
15. Home
Tentative with this. They include realistic homes for animals and people alongside fictional homes and creatures The thing that gave me pause was some potential stereotypes, but I need to investigate more because they aren’t things I’m super confident on. I was hoping to see more realistic homes for the global community aspect. Could still be fun with the fantasy aspect, maybe art projects about fantastical homes!
16. One Family
This is really beautiful with all the different family types! One family is the theme, be it inter generational, interracial, small or large. Lots of diversity!
17. I am Enough
Ok so this made me cry. The book features all girls and is about how they are all valuable and deserving no matter who they are. It shows girls that are ballerinas, but also girls in karate. Science, math, art, and flowers. Another really nice part is the types of girls. So many ethnicities and skin tones represented, in addition to a girl in a wheelchair and a girl in hijab. The natural hair styles features are on point!!!
18. Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World
My best friend actually bought this for my kids as a gift. Its a fantastic, comprehensive book full of brilliant women, what’s not to love? They also have a Women in Sports book, we’ll be ordering that one soon!
19. A is for Activist
This is not your standard, ABC board book. This book highlights equity, social action, and resistance. It is definitely well loved in our family, I hope it will be for yours. They have an additional book that follow this format of activism for the tiniest ones on the front lines of change!
20. This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer
This is an adorable book full of women, historical and modern, that have accomplished great things in their lifetime. Obviously, I love a good girl power theme here and this is no different!
Are some of these topics heavy? Totally I really believe that glossing over historical atrocities does a huge disservice to them, so I’m so happy to have these trusted resources. What are some of your favorite woke kids books?
Tags: books, homeschool, library, recommendations, shopping, social justice
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