How To Diversify Your Babies Book Shelf in 2022
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There are so many advantages to start reading to your little one at a young age. Not only do children absorb all the information their little minds can handle, they are also highly influenced by what is in front of them. That is why the books you read to your children can have a huge impact on their lives and how they see the world. Having a diverse bookshelf can not only teach your children kindness, feelings, courage and acceptance but also show different people’s lifestyles, religions and customs. It was very important to us that our son have books where the characters on the pages looked like him and represented him. By having him see black and brown faces it gives him the chance to have role models, feel included and most importantly feel validated. I ask you to join me in diversifying your bookshelf! The younger you start to diversify, the earlier it is normalized and the earlier you can start having conversations with your little ones about all of the beautiful people of the world!
Check out 10 of our favorites Below!
This little book introduces trailblazing women who had major influences in the world! Bright, Colorful and very aspirational to show your little ones they can grow to do some amazing things in their life!
2. Woke Baby
Woke Babies grow up to change the world! This empowering book is both a celebration of what it means to be a baby and what it means to be woke in todays society!
3. Sulwe
Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family but she just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. The photos in this story may be the most beautiful debut of a picture book I have ever seen!
4. A is for Activist
A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for.
5. Antiracist Baby
This is a book that empowers parents and children to uproot racism in our society and in ourselves, now with added discussion prompts to help readers recognize and reflect on bias in their daily lives.
Take your first steps with Antiracist Baby! Or rather, follow Antiracist Baby's nine easy steps for building a more equitable world.
6. M Is for Melanin
M Is for Melanin is an empowering alphabet book that teaches kids their ABCs and celebrates Black children! Each letter of the alphabet contains affirming, Black-positive messages, from A is for Afro, to F is for Fresh, to W is for Worthy. This book teaches children their ABCs while encouraging them to love the skin that they're in, and happens to be one of our favorites!
7. Please baby Please
From moments fussy to fond, Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, producer Tonya Lewis Lee, present a behind-the-scenes look at the chills, spills, and unequivocal thrills of bringing up baby!
8. The Skin you live in
With the ease and simplicity of a nursery rhyme, this cute story delivers an important message of social acceptance to little readers.
9. A is for Awesome
A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World! Why stick with plain old A, B, C when you can have Amelia (Earhart), Malala, Tina (Turner), Ruth(Bader Ginsburg), all the way to eXtraordinary You!
10. Dream Big Little One
Featuring 18 trailblazing black women in American history, Dream Big, Little One is the irresistible board book adaptation of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History.
I hope you enjoy reading these with your little one! Any other books you love? Let me know in the comments!
Dalijah Franklin
Dalijah Franklin is a Mother, Dancer, Lifestyle Blogger, Entrepreneur, and Obsessive Life Giver. She is also the founder of Black Girls Pole, an organization to striving to diversify the pole world by inspiring, empowering, and educating women of color about pole dancing. Check out Black Girls Pole’s website and Instagram here. Stay up to date with Dalijah here.