Our Top Picks for Black History Month

Sulwe

by Lupita Nyong’o (Author) Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)

Sulwe’s skin is the colour of midnight. She’s darker than everyone in her family, and everyone at school. All she wants is to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey through the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. From Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o comes a powerful, moving picture book about colourism, self-esteem and learning that true beauty comes from within.

Hair Love

by Matthew A. Cherry (Author) Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)

Based on the Oscar winning short film! Mum always does Zuri’s hair just the way she likes it – so when Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn.

It’s up to Daddy to give his daughter an extra-special hair style in this story of self-confidence and the love between fathers and daughters.

Bedtime Stories: Beautiful Black Tales from the Past

A beautiful, celebratory and joyful book of bedtime stories. Written and illustrated by Black creators, with a foreword by Candice Brathwaite, Bedtime Stories showcases a curated collection of tales from Black history, based on important figures and events from around the world. Each story is the ideal length to read at bedtime as well as any moment when young readers are looking for an inspirational read!

Little Leaders: Black in Time

by Alison Hammond

Sometimes people we don’t know much about are the most interesting of all! Which is really what this book is all about. From sportspeople to scientists, activists to musicians, politicians to writers, in this book you will meet a whole bunch of AWESOME people who have helped shape the world we live in. So, are you ready for a journey Black in time?

The Story of the Windrush

by K. N. Chimbiri

The story before the scandal. A book to celebrate the inspiring legacy of the Windrush pioneers. In June 1948, hundreds of Caribbean men, women and children arrived in London on a ship called the HMT Empire Windrush. Although there were already Black people living in Britain at the time, this event marks the beginning of modern Black Britain.

My Story: Ignatius Sancho

by Judy Hepburn

The extraordinary true story of a young boy’s life: a slave, a servant, a business owner, a campaigner, a composer, a writer. Greenwich 1738, and eight-year-old Ignatius lives with three sisters. Not as a member of their family, but more or less a pet – a toy. He serves them breakfast, lunch and dinner, fetches and carries, does their bidding and all without thanks or a smile. He lives with the constant possibility of being sent away to a sugar plantation – to endure back-breaking work away from everything and everyone he has ever known. When the threat of being sent back to the West Indies to be enslaved on a plantation becomes suddenly all too real, Ignatius must escape and start to build a real and brilliant life for himself.

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

Inspired by Black Lives Matter. A tale of police brutality with its finger on the pulse of our times. Starr lives in two worlds: the poor area where she was raised, and her fancy high school out in the suburbs. Sometimes it’s a tough balancing act. But when a police shooting kills her best buddy, Khalil, she finds herself falling with no safety net. Where will she land? Starr was the only witness. Khalil wasn’t armed. The things people are saying about him aren’t true – that he was a pusher, a gangster, a thug. Now she’s caught between the cops, a scary drug lord, and rioting protestors. Speaking up could destroy her community and get her killed. But she can’t keep silent. What should Starr do?

Cane Warriors

by Alex Wheatle

Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches… Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760.

This Book is Anti-Racist

by Tiffany Jewell (Author) and Aurelia Durand (Illustrator)

Gain a deeper understanding of your anti-racist self as you progress through 20 chapters that spark introspection, reveal the origins of racism that we are still experiencing and give you the courage and power to undo it. Each lesson builds on the previous one as you learn more about yourself and racial oppression. An activity at the end of every chapter gets you thinking and helps you grow with the knowledge. All you need is a pen and paper.