Literacy & Educational Resources With A Focus On Diversity

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With all the focus right now on antiracism, many people are looking for quality resources that teach about diversity to use with their children. Reading is such a great way to foster inclusivity and teach about important topics like racism.

This is a list of resources I recommend for children to teach about diversity. These books cover a variety of races and ethnicities from all around the world. Whether you’re a teacher or you homeschool, anyone can use these with children.

You might be looking for resources to create a multicultural classroom or simply teach children about diversity. Either way, the use of books and videos are a great way to introduce these topics and create a dialogue. Some of the books on this list are great to use as a read-aloud for various ages.

Books About Diversity

I categorized the books by age groups but I recommend you check the recommended age and grade level for each one before purchasing to be sure it’s suitable for your child or students.

*This is an ongoing list that I add to as I find relevant resources. Leave a comment if you have one you’d like me to add to the list.

Toddlers & Preschool

• Whoever You Are/Quienquiera que seas
• The Snowy Day
• Brick by Brick
• A is for Activist
• Saturday
• Hair Love
• Happy in Our Skin
• We’re Different, We’re the Same
• All Are Welcome
• All the Colors We Are/Todos Los Colores de Nuestra Piel: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color/La Historia de Por Qué Tenemos Diferentes Colores de Piel
• The Name Jar

Elementary

• The Colors of Us
• Makanaka’s World: Adventure in Morocco
• I Am Enough
• Under My Hijab
• Amazing Grace
• Teach Your Dragon About Diversity
• Dreamers 
• The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story
• Each Kindness
• The Other Side
• Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice
• The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage: The Fight for Interracial Marriage
• Where Are You From?
• Children Just Like Me: A new celebration of children around the world
• Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness
• The Youngest Marcher
• Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice
• Home of the Brave: An American History Book for Kids: 15 Immigrants Who Shaped U.S. History
• 50 Fearless Women Who Made American History: An American History Book for Kids
• Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
• I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
• Hidden Figures Young Readers’ Edition
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Young Reader’s Edition
• A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story
• Number the Stars
• Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Teens

• All American Boys
• Say Her Name
• Dear Martin
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
• This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work
• No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row
• A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America

Other Educational Resources With A Focus On Diversity

I also want to share other educational resources about diversity that can be used in addition to books. Although I obviously love books, I want to share anything that can help teach about diversity since it’s so important. These are educational videos, movies, shows, podcasts, and websites. Some are for older students so please have a look at each resource before using it.

• Nat Geo Kids: Are We There Yet? – This video series explores life around the world
• Families of the World – This video series on Amazon takes you inside the homes of different families around the world
• Tell Them We Are Rising – A PBS documentary about historically black colleges and universities
• Tulsa Race Massacre episode on American History Tellers podcast – This episode teaches about the worst incident of racial violence in America
• PBS series about Reconstruction
• The 1619 Project: New York Times for Kids Edition
• Teaching Tolerance website full of resources
• Ten “Must Watch” Black History Documentaries

If you’re looking for tips for struggling readers, check out these posts:

• Effective Dyslexia Interventions & Programs
• Multisensory Spelling Strategy
• Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers – Elkonin Boxes
• Multisensory Strategies for B & D Reversals
• Systematic Synthetic Phonics for Struggling Readers
• How to Implement Multisensory Learning
• Phonemic Awareness Strategies & Activities for Struggling Readers

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