Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, by Vashti Harrison

I'm always super ambitious about Black History Month, but never feel like I'm doing a good enough job.  This year, thanks to Little Leaders, our son is obsessed with reading about "amazing black people."  We stumbled onto a really fun and easy approach about a week ago when we bought this book, each day (or, more honestly, most days) we let our son page through the book and pick one person he wants to learn more about.  Then we read that page to him, along with a lot of discussion, and then supplement!  For example, when we read the Nina Simone entry we listened to her music during dinner.  The day we read about Dominque Dawes we watched her gymnastics routines on YouTube.  Some are more difficult to add to, but that hasn't decreased our son's interest so far.  His favorite entry was that of Mary Bowser (pictured below), in part because we have recently started to discuss slavery with him (and read him Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad for the first time), but more importantly because she was a SPY, which is like one step away from being a superhero.  

BUY HERE

(And if you're looking for other books about black history, 

our favorite remains Ron's Big Mission, which I wrote 

about previously here.

Alfie, by Thyra Heder

Nia is a black girl who receives Alfie, a pet turtle, for her sixth birthday.  On the morning of her seventh birthday, he disappears in search of a present for Nia.  Alfie reappears the day of Nia's eighth birthday with a turtle keychain he discovered during his quest.  The story is told alternately from Nia's, and then Alfie's points of view, and is a quick and enjoyable read.  Not a story we'd buy, but one we enjoyed reading several times when we checked it out of our local library.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

The Airport Book, by Lisa Brown

I love this book because it features a loving (and frazzled) family with a white mom, black dad, and two mixed kids.  My son loves this book because OH MY GOSH IT ILLUSTRATES EVERY SINGLE PART OF TRAVELING BY PLANE AND CAN WE READ IT AGAIN FOR THE SEVENTH TIME IN A ROW?  Seriously, there was a period when he was particularly obsessed with air travel when this was the only book he wanted to read, and it is a testament to the readability of this book that I do not hate it with every fiber of my being.  We have brought this book on every single plane trip our son has taken since this book was purchased and acted out the nuances of air travel portrayed in the book approximately 47 times (that is my realistic estimate).  The illustrations are incredibly detailed and allow you to follow the trip not only of the family at the center of the book, but many of the other passengers as well.

BUY HERE

(For awhile, this book was our go-to birthday gift for 3 year olds!)