10 Children’s Books To Give Your Kid For Juneteenth
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Did you know that as early as three months old, a child can begin to recognize differences in skin color? It’s a good piece of data for those wondering when children become aware of racial differences. A three-month-old won’t yet have the cognitive abilities to understand how racial differences influence social experience, but they have already begun to recognize skin color. So for those wondering if it’s too soon to speak to a 10-year-old about racial issues, it’s technically late. But, it’s definitely better late than never. Aisha White, the director for the Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education Program at the University of Pittsburgh shared some important information in this interview on how to speak to children about racial relations in America, and particularly June 19th.
Aisha does note that children younger than six or seven may not be prepared to handle the negative feelings that will arise from the story, but starting around that age, it is important to find ways to educate children – both Black and white – about the history of slavery. The conversation will look different for parents speaking to Black children versus white children, though. Parents speaking to black children should look to deliver messages that are “Protective and can serve as a preventive measure that interrupts the process of them internalizing negative attitudes about themselves,” says White. As for parents speaking to white children, the messages are about preventing negative attitudes about those with a different skin color from their own, and preventing any feeling of superiority due to their skin color. White does say that books can be an excellent way of delivering these messages, and so, to help parents looking for a way to honor June 19th with their children, we’ve rounded up some good kid’s books that help explain the significance of the day to their kids, as well as books that cover other milestone moments in the history of racial relations.
The Story Of June Nineteenth: An Interactive History Adventure, ages 8 to 11
This is an excellent choice for children who still get easily distracted when simply reading a book or looking at a picture book. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure book that begins right after slavery has been declared over, but that change hasn’t yet permeated the country. Children will choose between three story lines, 46 decisions, and 22 alternate endings as they imagine being a newly freed slave. The different directions the book takes readers on will have them encounter real obstacles newly freed slaves may have faced at the time, like looking for lost family and encountering regions that don’t yet know slavery has ended.
Freedom’s Gifts: A Juneteenth Story, ages 7 to 10
It’s difficult for many people today to imagine a world in which the only way to communicate information was through writing physical letters, and the USPS didn’t do overnight delivery. Messages could take months to get from one place to another, which is why the Emancipation Proclamation took years to make its way all the way across the country. This book follows the story of little girl June, her cousin Lillie, and their elderly Aunt Marshall through a day of celebrating the day Texan slaves received the news they had been emancipated. It takes place in 1943, when a young June is losing enthusiasm for the Juneteenth holiday. It was a time when Texas still had “Whites Only” signs posted on many buildings – something that inspires June’s understanding that there is still much work to be done in the country for racial relations at the time, and reignites her respect for the holiday.
All Different Now: Juneteenth, The First Day of Freedom, ages 5 to 9
This book tells the story of the very first Juneteenth through the eyes of a young enslaved girl in Texas. She wakes up in the morning a slave, unaware her entire life is about to change. The beautifully illustrated images depict slaves slowly receiving the news and beginning to celebrate that their worlds have been transformed. It’s accompanied by melodic verses, and ends with gorgeous images of the newly freed characters heading home after a long day of celebrations. Important historical information is also included, which can be appropriate for some older readers, along with a glossary of terms.
Juneteenth For Mazie, ages 6 to 9
This book comes from award-winning author and illustrator Floyd Cooper who received a Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations in several other important books on Black History. Appropriate for kids ages six to nine, it follows the story of little Mazie who is fed up with having her parents tell her she can’t do certain things. She sits down with her dad and learns all about the significance of June 19th, and slowly comes to understand the real meaning of freedom and the importance of the day. It’s a gentle and positive depiction of this historical event that’s appropriate for young readers.
Juneteenth: Freedom Day, ages 8 to 12
This book is a sort of history book rather than a picture or adventure book. It tells the story of how the celebration of Juneteenth started in Galveston, Texas in 1865 and eventually became a national holiday. The author and her husband, who visited Galveston in person for the big event one year, combine multiple sources from newspaper articles to old black-and-white photos to historical facts to paint the picture of how the honoring of this day spread through the country. It’s part history book, part scrap book of pieces of information and anecdotes that open up the story of Juneteenth celebrations to a national perspective.
Juneteenth Jamboree, ages 6 to 9
With vibrant illustrations, this book is meant to bring about festive feelings about this holiday. It follows a little girl named Cassie, who has just moved back to her hometown of Texas with her family, and is celebrating Juneteenth for the very first time, learning about its significance. The story delivers important factual information set to the background of a lot of family love, and focuses on why the news of the Emancipation Proclamation took two years to make its way to Texas. Its author Carole Boston Weatherford has won numerous awards for her work in several books about Black History.
One Crazy Summer, for pre-teens and teens
Appropriate for older children, this fun adventure novel follows 11-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters as they’re sent from Brooklyn, New York to Oakland, California in the year 1968 to spend the summer with a mother who abandoned them. They’re quickly sent to a summer camp that’s, unbeknownst to the girls, run by Black Panthers who teach them incredible lessons about their family’s history and Black history in America. The book was so popular it spurred the sequels “P.S. Be Eleven,” and “Gone Crazy in Alabama.” While it has comedic elements, it is a powerful coming of age story as well.
Freedom’s a-Callin Me, for teens
Note that this book is meant for teenagers and young adults as it does depict torture and other disturbing events. It can be very powerful for teens who are ready to read about the horrors of this part of American history. Poet Ntozake Shange and artist Rod Brown collaborated over this beautifully illustrated book to honor the men and women who risked their lives traveling and facilitating the Underground Railroad. It brings to life the permeating fear over who could be trusted, and explains that both Black and white individuals were a part of making the Underground Railroad. The poems evoke the tumultuous emotions from fear to despair experienced by those traveling the Underground Railroad.
Big Papa and the Time Machine
This whimsical picture and story book follows a young boy and his grandfather through a time travel adventure. One day the little boy is feeling afraid to go to school, so his grandpa takes him in his 1952 time-traveling Ford, back through several times in history when he himself was scared. It’s a creative way to explain to children how much the Black community has had to overcome in America, while also highlighting the importance of learning one’s family history, and family bonds. By the end of it, the little boy understands how brave his grandpa had to be, many times in history, and what paved the way for his life today.
Come Juneteenth, ages 12 and up
This coming of age novel is best for high-school aged children. It follows the story of a young girl named Sis Goose, who was born a slave, and after her mother passed away, was adopted into the slave owner’s family, raised as one of their own. Only once the news of the Emancipation Proclamation made its way to Texas where she lived, did Sis Goose realize her adopted family had been lying to her for two years. Sis Goose runs away, and goes on a treacherous journey. It’s a suspenseful page-turner but also an important historical novel for young adults and teenagers.
