Myself and Treasa have put together a list of diverse children’s books to represent children from all over the world, with different races, backgrounds and abilities. With the help of many teachers on Instagram, this list has been compiled of high quality texts to help you to diversify your classroom resources.

It is so, so important that all children are represented, celebrated and understood. Through books, children develop a better understanding of the world around them and it can open up fantastic classroom discussions. These books are suitable across a range of ages, so hopefully you find some to fit your particular class.

To download a FREE diverse school calendar for your classroom- click here.

About the co-author

A special thanks goes to @betweenthecoversofagoodbook. Treasa has completely edited this post, so that it is categorised in a way that all children have their culture and background valued and recognised in the classroom. This lady is an absolute FOUNTAIN of knowledge when it comes to picture books. Just check out this post below to learn more about her.

The importance of having diverse book list for your classroom

The idea behind this post is that when you meet your new class in September, you will know which texts to choose so that all of your children are represented and celebrated in your classroom. Also, it is equally important that the books you choose are not just “call to action” books about injustice, but used to celebrate different cultures.

I’ve included links to these books on Amazon to make finding them even easier for you. Links to Amazon are affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission should you purchase, at no extra cost to you. See more on this in my disclosure policy.

Buying books for your classroom can be very expensive. Be sure to check charity shops and second hand book shops too for some of these titles.

• Ruby’s Worry
• Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival
• Chocolate Milk Por Favor! Celebrating Diversity with Empathy by Maria Dismondy
• Happy Right Now by Julie Berry
• Walk With Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoet (wordless book)
• Say Something! By Peter H. Reynolds
• Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! By Cori Doerrfeld
• Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev
• A Tiger Called Tomás by Charlotte Zolotow

 

 

• Max and the Tag Along Moon
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de La Pena
• Bippity Bop Barbershop by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
• My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
• Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt De La Pena
• Saturday by Oge Mora
• Freedom Soup by Tami Charles
• Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons
• Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield
• Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora
• When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan
• Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard

 

 

• All Kinds of Families
• No Difference Between Us
• Two is Enough
• Uncle Bobby’s Wedding
• The Trouble with Babies by Martha Freeman and Cat Bowman Smith
• Donovan’s Big Day by Lesléa Newman
• Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima
• Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer
• A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager
• A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O’ Leary
• The Memory String by Eve Bunting
• Her Mother’s Face by Roddy Doyle

 

• Star of the week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles by Darlene Friedman
• I’ve Loved You Since Forever by Hoda Kotb
• One for the Murphy’s by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis
• Pablo’s Tree by Pat Mora
• The Red Blanket by Eliza Thomas

 

• Don’t Touch My Hair
• I Love my Hair
• Black is a rainbow colour
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
• Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
• Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
• The Old Truck by Jarrett Pumphrey
• Between The Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went From the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace
• Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
• When The Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill
• Sulwe by Vashti Harrison
• Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson
• I am a Promise by Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce
• Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson

 

• Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
• Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise
• La Frontera – My Journey with Papa by Deborah Mills, Alfredo Alva, and Cluadia Navarro
• Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown
• Going Home by Eve Bunting
• Abuela by Arthur Dorros
• Lucía the Luchadora by Cynthis Leonor Garza
• Tomás and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

 

• The Blue Horse (Irish Traveller)
• Yokki and the Parno Gry (Irish Traveller)
• Ossiri and the Bala Mengro (Irish Traveller)
• The Lost Homework (Irish Traveller)
• The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin and David Shannon
• Encounter by Jane Yolen
• Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard
• We Are Water Protectors by Carol Lindstrom
• The Princess and the Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh
• At The Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorell
• Sorry Day by Coral Vass
• Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy

 

• The Wall
• A Different Pond
• The Name Jar
• Mela and the Elephant
• So Far From The Sea by Eve Bunting
• Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N Tran-Davies
• Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
• Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki
• Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey
• The Turtle Ship by Helena Ku Rhee
• Lift by Dan Santat
• The Empty Pot by Demi
• Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII by Marissa Moss
• Drawn Together by Dan Santat
• Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans by Tina Cho

 

• How will Santa find us?
• A chair for my Mother
• Fly Away Home
• Those Shoes
• A shelter in our car
• Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
• A Day’s Work by Eve Bunting
• A Bike Like Sergio’s by MAribeth Boelts

 

• My name is not Refugee
• The Boy at the Back of the Class
• There’s a Boy Just like Me
• Four Feet, Two Sandals
• Shadow
• Refugees
• The Arabic Quilt: An Immigration Story by Aya Khalil
• Yusra Swims by Julie Abery
• When Jessie Came Across The Sea by Amy Hest
• Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour
• Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
• Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush’s Incredible Journey by Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes
• Wisp: A Story of Hope by Zana Faillon and Grahame Baker- Smith
• My Two Blankets by Irena Kobalks and Freya Blackwood
• The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman and Karin Littlewood
• Islandborn by Junot Diaz and Leo Espinosa
• The Journey by Francesca Sanna

 

• The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr Patricia Bath by Julia Finley Mosca
• The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter
• Great Women who Saved the Planet
• The Water Princess by Susan Verde
• The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins and her New Deal for America by Kathleen Krull
• The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams by Tanya Lee Stone
• The World is Not A Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter
• Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by helaine Becker
• Ballots for Belva: The True Story of a Woman’s Race for the Presidency by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen 
• Wilma’s Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller by Doreen Mankiller
• Talkin’ About Bessie: The True Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes
• Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge by Rachel Dougherty
• Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos by Monica Brown
• I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy
• Josephine by Patricia Hruby Powell
• The Girl With A Mind For Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Julia Finley Mosca
• Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie CLark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist
• Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark
• Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard
• Mulan: The Legend of the Woman Warrior translated by Faye-Lynn Wu

 

 

• Mirror by Jennie Baker
• Winter Candle by Jeron Ashford

 

• The Proudest Blue
• Max celebrates Ramadan
• Malala’s Magic Pencil
• Lailah’s Lunchbox
• Under my Hijab
• Amina’s Voice
• Big Red Lollipop
• Planet Omar

 

• Sadie’s Almost Marvelous Menorah
• Hanukkah in Alaska
• Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
• Little Red Ruthie: A Hanukkah Tale by Gloria Koster
• The First Gift

 

• The Three Questions by Jon J Muth
• Zen Ties by Jon J Muth
• Charlotte and the Quiet Place by Deborah Sosin

 

• Tree of Cranes by Allen Say
• The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola
• Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

 

• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
• King and King by Lina de hann and Stern Nijland
• Worm Loves Worm by JJ Austrian
• Call Me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez
• I am Jazz by Jessixa Herthel, Jazz jennings, and Shelagh McNicholas
• The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived by Daniel Errico and Ida M. Schouw Andreasen
• It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr

 

• Thank you Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (Children with dyslexia)
• The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco
• Dyslexia is my Superpower
• My Sister, Alicia May (Children with Downsyndrome)
• Wonder
• Max and the Millions (Children with hearing difficulties)
• Lucky Lucy Logan (Children with hearing difficulties).
• Don’t Call Me Special
• We’re all Wonders
• Howie helps Himself (Children in a wheelchair)
• Charlotte and the Quiet Place
• My friend has Autism
• My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete
• Same but Different by Holly Robison Peete
• The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
• Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
• Why Are You Looking At Me: I Just Have Down Syndrome by Lisa Tomkins
• Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman (Children with hearing difficulties)
• The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros
• All The Way To The Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bat Pimentel
• Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

 

• Let the Children March
• Hector: A Boy, a Protest, and the Photograph that Changed Apartheid by Adreinne Wright
• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
• Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley
• Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden
• Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winter and Shane W. Evans
• Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
• The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
• Smoky Nights by Eve Bunting
• Nya’s Long Walk: A Step at a Time by Linda Sue Park
• Thurgood by Jonah Winter and Bryan Collier
• Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
• The Book Rescuer by Sue Macy
• Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Dee Romito
• Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
• One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul and Elizabeth Zunon

 

• Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
• The Boy Who Harnessed The wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
• The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney by Alice B. McGinty
• Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
• Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

If you have any more recommendations at all, please leave a comment below and I’ll add them in. Thank you!