50 Children’s Books About Diversity That Celebrate Our Differences

“There will be times you walk into a room and there is no one quite like you…” Angelina feels uncomfortable in her class, because all her classmates are talking about the exciting places they traveled to over the summer. She was home, taking care of her sister, and she feels awkward and alone. Soon, though, it becomes apparent that we all have times when we feel different, but by sharing our stories, we can always find points of connection as well, and that those differences are something to be celebrated, not hidden.

This is a perfect readaloud book, with its flowing style and upbeat rhyming structure: “Lanky bodies, squat bodies, / tall, short, wide, or narrow bodies, / somewhere-in-the-middle bodies, / bodies are cool!” It shows all kinds of bodies, including fat bodies, bodies of all races and skin tones, disabled bodies, and more! The illustrations and rhythm will captivate preschool readers!

I have completely fallen in love with this book. It shows a huge diversity of people, all described as “lovely.” The simple, minimal text shows opposites: “black”—represented by a white woman in all black, “white”—a black woman with white hair, but includes them all under the umbrella of “lovely.” There are gender non-conforming people shown, different races, a person with a prosthetic leg (playing soccer—the depiction of the word “sporty”), and person in a wheelchair. One page shows braces spelling out lovely, while another has a unibrow shaped into the word. I’ll admit, the page that shows someone with hairy legs wearing red high heels with the text “Fancy” underneath made me want to buy a copy for my personal collection.

This one comes recommended by Roxane Gay: do I need to say anything more? Just in case I do, this is a book teaching how to embrace difference and support others, all told in a rhyming style. It includes many different types of diversity, and it has a refugee character and a genderfluid character. It starts an introduction by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term “intersectionality”!

I was surprised to see this was only published in 2015, because I think of this as a classic picture book. (It won the Newbery and Caldecott the same year, so you can’t get much higher recognition in the kidlit world.) This follows CJ as he rides the bus with his grandmother after church. As he comments (and sometimes complains) about their community (why doesn’t he have an iPod? Why do they have to go through the “dirty” part of town?), she lovingly chastises him and points out the beauty of the world around them. Some readers might object to the “incorrect grammar,” but that might be an opportunity to talk about AAVE and that just because someone speaks differently than what you might be used to, that doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

It’s never too early to start teaching kids about inclusion and diversity! So why not gift Innosanto Nagara’s board books the next time you attend a baby shower instead of Goodnight Moon? Not only does A is for Activist teach about activism in an ABC rhyming format, it’s also populated by a wide range of people being represented! Counting on Community is a great way to introduce the idea of a diverse and close-knit community and what being a good community member means (while also teaching numbers!) Once they’ve got the basics down, you can move on to Oh, the Things We’re For, which is a Nagara picture book about fighting for change.

Enough! showcases some of the people throughout history (in the USA) who fought for their freedom. While it includes events like the Boston Tea Party, it centers the stories of activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman, as well as the protesters and activists still fighting today, like Jazz Jennings and Colin Kaepernick. It also includes a foreword from a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting.

Unhei has just moved to America from Korea. As she enters her new classroom, instead of introducing herself, she says she will be picking a new (“American”) name soon. Her classmates are intrigued by this nameless newcomer, and they fill a glass jar with suggestions, which she tries out. When one classmate visits her home and finds out her name and its meaning, the jar disappears. Unhei realizes that she doesn’t have to change her name to find acceptance and friendship in her new life.

When a child comes home from school vowing never to go back, her mother discovers it’s because her classmates and teacher can’t pronounce her name: “it got stuck in her [teacher’s] mouth.” The mother explains that her name is a song to be celebrated. This story includes names from many cultures, each with a pronunciation guide, and encourages kids with these “hard to pronounce” names to say them with confidence. This is a great book for kids with names that differ from white Western conventions, but it should also be used to explain to all kids how important it is to pronounce each other’s names correctly.

The Sandwich Swap makes a great introduction to the concept of celebrating differences, especially cultural differences. Lily and Salma are best friends that do everything together, but privately, they think the others’ everyday lunch is disgusting: peanut butter sandwiches vs hummus on pita. When the truth comes out, the entire cafeteria splits into these teams, and a food fight erupts, until Lily and Salma try each other’s lunches and realize that both are good. A little simplistic, sure, but a good conversation starter with young kids.

A young girl is frustrated by her classmates’ constant question: “Where you from?”–especially when they don’t accept her answer. When she talks to her abuelo, he explains where she’s “really from” in a lyrical answer drawing on their South American heritage, their family’s history in the USA, and the simple answer that he is from her heart. While this is about her acceptance and celebration of her identity, it should also be used to start a conversation with white children about why “Where are you from?” can be an invasive question.

A popular choice for teachers, Same, Same But Different compares the lives of two kid pen pals: Elliot in America and Kailash in India. They learn what they have in common (pets, taking a bus to school, living with their families) and where they differ, but these differences are celebrated, instead of being treated as a barrier to their friendship.

This poem is a love letter to the different kinds of brown skin can be, comparing them to beautiful and radiant shades in nature. The illustrations are gorgeous and the writing is lyrical–the vocabulary will be challenging for young readers, but the flowing language will keep them engaged. It also includes depictions of people of differenct races and skin tones as well as disabled people.

Marisol is Peruvian-Scottish-American, and she celebrates every aspect of her identity. She has red hair and brown skin, speaks English and Spanish (the book is also available in both languages), and she eats peanut butter and jelly burritos for lunch and plays pirate princess soccer at recess. When she’s told she doesn’t “match,” Marisol tries to be all one thing, speaking only in English, eating PB&J sandwiches, and drops the “pirate princess” part of her recess activities. She fits in, but she is diminished and listless. A teacher writes her a note to tell her that she misses the Marisol she knows, and Marisol bounces back, embracing her whole, multi-faceted self.

This book celebrating Black hair has since been made into an Oscar-winning short film! Zuri is proud of her hair with its “kinks, coils, and curls.” When her mom does her hair, it makes her feel confident and strong. When she is away, though, her dad steps up to style Zuri’s hair in a way that perfectly matches her style. Hair can be source of tension for Black girls in particular, and this title is a great way to show that everyone’s hair is different and that natural Black hair is beautiful–and can look lots of different ways!

An unfortunate problem that still persists in children’s book illustrations are Asian characters distinguished by slanted/squinting eyes, so it’s refreshing to have a book like this to read instead. This is a story that celebrates the beauty of “crescent moon” eyes or “eyes that kiss in the corners.” When the main character feels self-conscious that her eyes don’t look like her classmates’, she realizes that she can see her eye shape in her family’s faces and that they link their generations together. Browsing through the Goodreads reviews, it’s evident how needed this book is by how many adults this brought to tears, especially in thinking about how their younger selves would have appreciated this story.

Faizah is excited: today is the first time her older sister Asiya is wearing a hijab to school! Unfortunately, some of the other kids at school make negative comments. That just makes Faizah appreciate its beauty even more, though, and how it symbolizes tradition and cultural pride for their family. This is a much-needed resource for hijabi kids, but it also is familiarizes other kids with hijabs and their importance to many people. It’s a way into a conversation for all kids about appropriate and inappropriate questions to ask or comments to make when someone wears clothing that is unfamiliar to you.

Let the Children March is the story of the Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. When their parents couldn’t protest in fear of losing their jobs and not being able to provide for their family, Black children as young as nine marched to protest Jim Crow laws. They were met with a hostile police force who responded with water hoses, batons, and dogs set on them. This story focuses on the strength of these children, and how they contributed to history. This gives important context to conversations about diversity and inclusion, while showing how children have made a difference in their words and actions throughout time.

Almost a decade before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Méndez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only school.” Despite speaking perfect English, her parents were told she must must attend the “Mexican school,” which was further away and underfunded. The Méndez family fought back against this, and their fight helped end school segregation in California. A good touchstone for the history of diverse classrooms.

In Dreamers, Yuyi Morales draws on her own experience migrating from Mexico the U.S., trying to make a life with only herself and her infant son. Together, they found refuge in the library, and there, Morales learned English and was able to access resources to help her make a home in this new country. Dreamers also shows that despite leaving her possessions in Mexico, Morales carried with her her talents, skills, and dreams, which improve not only her own life, but also the lives around her. This title is also available in Spanish!

Stepping Stones is a book inspired by the stone art of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr. It depicts a family who has a happy and loving life in Syria, until war turns their home into somewhere unfamiliar and unsafe. They are forced to flee, packing as much of their lives as they can carry. The unnamed family can serve as an everyperson story about refugees, and the collage art is surprisingly evocative.

While it’s easy for conversations started from the titles above about immigration to veer into “We’re all immigrants” territory, it’s important to give kids a more accurate background to the history of North American and its population. We are Still Here! discusses both Indigenous history and ongoing activism in North America. This provides a foundation for kids to begin learning about contemporary Indigenous issues and the legacy of colonialism. I also recommend We Are Water Protectors, written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade, for a specific focus on Indigenous environmental activism.

Ordinary Terrible Things is a series where Anastasia Higginbotham explains difficult topics to children (with titles like Death Is Stupid, Divorce is the Worst, and Tell Me About Sex, Grandma). In Not My Idea, a white child sees a news report about a police murder of a black victim. When she asks her family about it, they skirt around the issue. She begins to research at the library, and learns more and more about racism and white supremacy. This is painful, but necessary: “Connecting means opening. And opening sometimes feels…like breaking.” She learns how to fight against this ideology: Not My Idea teaches that racism and white supremacy are problems that white people have created, and we have a responsibility to fix them. At the end of the book, Higginbotham addresses any concerns about whether kids are too young to learn about this with the simple statements: “Innocence is overrated. Knowledge is Power. Get some. Grow wise. Make history.” (Check out the School Library Journal blog for a detailed review, as well as pages from the book that show the collage style illustrations.)

This introduction to gender for young kids is written by a parent of a trans kid and illustrated by a non-binary artist. It is simple, clear, and gentle, explaining that when babies are born, the doctor guesses their gender: “What a baby’s body looks like when they’re born can be a clue to what the baby’s gender will be, but not always. When people guess wrong, it’s okay to let them know.” It includes lots of different expressions of gender and two non-binary characters: one who feels like a boy and a girl and one who feels like neither. It also includes a list of resources in the back to continue the conversation.

Who Are You? serves as a great introduction to gender for kids. With minimal text per page, it’s pretty general—sometimes vague—but provides a good foundation to build on. It introduces gender as being experienced through the gendering of our bodies, our activities, and our identities. My favorite part is the wheel included, where you can mix-and-match different gender expressions, bodies, and identities. The message is simply that gender norms shouldn’t dictate how you express yourself, and you know yourself best.

This is the first book in a series exploring Max going to school as a trans boy, written by a trans guy. This book is one of the many that has been victim of being banned or challenged for daring to educate kids on LGBTQ issues. It is an accessible introduction to what being trans means for around kindergarten age, and it concentrates more on Max and his adventures than on the “issue” of being trans.

This delivers just what the title promises. Errol notices that Teddy, his best friend, seems to be sad. Errol asks what’s wrong, and Teddy responds that she wants to be known as Tilly Teddy now—she knows she’s a girl Teddy. Tilly is afraid, though, that she will lose her friends if she tells them. Errol assures her that she is still his best friend, and he just wants her to be happy. This is a cute, gentle introduction to people transitioning.

Yes, this is another Lukoff title, but I couldn’t pick just one! This one takes place after Aidan has already come out as trans. Instead, the focus is on Aidan welcoming a new sibling into their family. He is worried both about typical new sibling fears and his concerns about the baby being gendered before they’re even born–he knows what it’s like to be misgendered. It shows that life is always a series of transitions and that can be source of joy! I love the illustration style in this one, and this is another trans boy book by a trans guy author.

This autobiographical picture book is by a “mother-daughter advocate duo,” and it follows a mother trying to find the perfect rainbow wig for her trans daughter. This isn’t an explainer of being trans: it assumes you already have that foundation. Instead, it’s about the mother character trying to find ways to affirm her kid. The daughter is also Black and autistic, which is nice to see: it’s still very rare to see intersectional representation like this, whether in picture books or books in general! I love the colorful illustrations.

I could have filled this list with Flamingo Rampant books, because I love them all. It’s described as a “micropress with a mission—to produce feminist, racially diverse, LGBTQ positive children’s books.” All of their books not only depict LGBTQ+ kids and families, but they are also racially and culturally diverse (including different religions), as well as depicting people with disabilities. I’ve picked 47,000 Beads because it’s the first picture book I’ve seen to represent a Two-Spirit kid (it’s also written by a Two-Spirit Lakota person).  The main character, Peyton, is struggling, because she feels like she doesn’t fit the gender expectations of her. Her family, recognizing this struggle, all come together to prepare a gift to show Peyton that they accept her and teach her about what being Two-Spirit means. This is a book I think every elementary school library should have.

A young boy is fascinated by his mother’s bindi. She explains what it is and its cultural significance, and when he asks for one of his own, she happily gives him one in his own color—yellow. He is allowed to express himself and his difference through the bindi, while participating in his culture and history. Like many of the books on this list, it represents diversity on multiple axes, so this could just as easily be read to learn about cultural diversity.

I couldn’t write about LGBTQIA+ kids’ books without mentioning Prince & Knight, a fairy tale update in the tradition of King & King. The prince’s parents want to find him a bride, but all the princesses they introduce him to don’t strike his fancy. He’s looking for something special in a partner. When a dragon attacks his kingdom and he is fighting to defend it, he is rescued by a knight in shining armor, and they instantly fall in love. They marry and live happily ever after. This is a charming, Disney-esque fairy tale story that should help combat the heteronormativity of the typical book in the genre.

Personally, I can’t resist that cover. The sheer confidence and style that Julián exudes makes the book for me. When Julián sees three women on the subway dressed up as mermaids, it inspires him to go home and make his own costume, but when his Abuela finds him, he’s nervous about how she’ll react, both to the mess he’s made and to how he looks. Instead of chastising him, his Abuela takes him to see a community he didn’t know he was part of: the Mermaid Parade. (Which I wasn’t aware of, and will now be looking at endless pictures of.) Also check out the sequel: Julián at the Wedding, which takes place at a wedding between two brides and introduces another gender nonconforming kid character!

I’m a big Steven Universe fan, and I’ll admit, I’m not sure how this would translate if you’ve never seen the show. It is absolutely beautiful, though, and portrays the love story of Ruby and Sapphire, two gems (aliens) whose love allows them to become someone new together: Garnet. Their relationship is not accepted in their society, but they find a place to be themselves, one that celebrates their love. Alongside the story are mini versions of Sapphire and Ruby reacting to the events as they unfold, providing commentary and contrast. The style is reminiscent of a classic Little Golden Book. Not only did I have to include this because I, personally, love it, but it’s also—as far as I’ve seen—the only picture to have a love story between two women (or girls). There are books about kids with two mothers, but there doesn’t seem to be many sapphic equivalents to Prince & Knight, King & King, And Tango Makes Three, and Marlon Bundo. (Some digging has brought up Maiden Voyage by Jaimee Poipoi, but I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t give a full recommendation yet!)

Morris loves make-believe and dress up, and his favorite thing to dress up in is his tangerine dress, in which he has many adventures. Unfortunately, the other kids don’t understand why a boy would wear a dress. After staying home a day, Morris comes back and answers the claim of “Boys don’t wear dresses!” with “This boy does.” This isn’t necessarily a book about being trans, but about questioning gender roles and making space for kids to express themselves and their gender however they see fit.

Kai Cheng Thom’s memoir Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is one of my favorite books, so I had to pick up her picture book. This is a story about a kid who is a shapeshifter. Born when both the sun and moon were in the sky, they delight in being a little bit of everything. They grow wings or fins or horns or all at once. No matter what they look like, their mother always reassures them that she’ll love them no matter what. When the kid goes to school and gets teased, they stop shapeshifting, only to find that their classmates want them to be either a boy or a girl. When the kid asks their mom if the other kids will accept them, she gives a refreshing answer of “I don’t know,” but reassures them that they’ll always be loved anyway. Going back to school as their glittery, shape-shifting, non-binary self, they manage to find some commonalities after all, and they teach the other kids how to develop their own wings, fins, and horns. A mix of non-binary representation and metaphor of imagination and difference in general, this works on both levels.

This is a biography of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, a disability activist who began when she was just six years old. You might recognize her from Crip Camp, a Netflix documentary produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s production company. (I highly recommend it!) To advocate for the Americans with Disability act, wheelchair users–including Keelan-Chaffins–crawled up the steps of the Capital building in protest called the Capital Crawl. It gained a lot of press and attention, and eventually, the act was passed! This sheds light on history that is rarely taught in schools.

This is written by Sonia Sotomayer, the first Latina Supreme Court Justice! When she was diagnosed with diabetes as a child, she was bothered by people staring or seeming uncomfortable when she did things like check her blood sugar levels or give herself a shot. She wished people would just ask! This book covers a range of disabilities, including characters with Down Syndrome, dyslexia, autism, nut allergies, and much more. Together, they plant a garden together, with the message that it would be boring if the garden only had one type of plant! This is a great addition to a still quite small amount of children’s books portraying disabled characters, but The Conscious Kid does offer some drawbacks: this book doesn’t actually use the word disability or disabled. It also mentions (in a long list of resources) Autism Speaks, an organization rejected by autistic communities for speaking over autistic people and perpetuating harmful views of autism. Because there are so few picture books introducing disability as a subject, I think this is still worthwhile to start a conversation, but be prepared to supplement it.

Moses and the rest of his class are Deaf, and they communicate with each other using sign language. They are going on a field trip to a concert, which Moses is excited about, because he loves playing his drum. When they get there, though, their teacher has a surprise: the percussionist is also Deaf, and feels the vibrations of the music through her feet. During the concert, the students hold onto balloons to feel the music in their bodies. This book also has ASL throughout and includes an index in the back with the ASL alphabet.

Zulay and her three best friends are in first grade together. They’re all excited about the upcoming Field Day, but the class is surprised when Zulay wants to run a race, because she’s blind. With some help and practice, though, she shows them how it’s possible! This book doesn’t state that Zulay is blind: kids will have to use clues to figure it out. Zulay is also Black, and we’re still lacking in book representing disabled kids of color. I also appreciate that it shows Zulay thriving in a group of friends! I’m going to direct you to a Goodreads review from a young blind girl dictated to her dad, because it’s adorable and shows how needed these books are.

Joe is tired of everyone asking what happened to his leg. He wants to play on the playground with other kids, not answer the same rude question over and over. This is based on the other’s own childhood experiences, and it claims to be “The first ever picture book addressing how a disabled child might want to be spoken to.” It tackles this topic with humor and playfulness, showing that Joe is more than just a single story.

Emma is a girl with limb differences (she doesn’t have hands) who uses a wheelchair. When Charley meets her on the playground, he remembers his mother saying, “Different isn’t bad, sad, or strange–different is just different and different is okay!” They soon become friends. Although I would rather that this was from Emma’s perspective, there are still very few children’s books portraying children with limb differences, so I think this is a great addition. It also has information in the back for parents, guardians, and teachers about how to help kids know what is appropriate to say to physically disabled kids.

The boy in this story is frustrated by a “bad speech day.” He hides in the back of the room, hoping his teacher won’t call on him. When he is chosen to speak, he feels the whole classes’ eyes on him. His father tells him, “You see how that water moves, son? That’s how you speak.” Although it doesn’t fix all his problems, he’s comforted that even water stutters sometimes. The strength of this story is the breathtaking illustrations. It shouldn’t just be reserved for teaching about stuttering: it’s a gorgeous read that is also an entry point into talking about anxiety and feeling different–how we can cope and how we can help others feeling that way.

A parody of the typical “Here’s my friend with a disability” picture book, this story centers an autistic child trying to explain his friend Johnny, who is neurotypical (NT). He acts erratically, his speech patterns are confusing, and he doesn’t have a properly maintained special interest, but that’s okay! They can still be friends, even if they are different. This achieves the same ends as the kind of book it parodies, but by centering autistic kids, it prevents the othering of neurodiverse readers.

“Noah is different. He sees, hears, feels, and thinks in ways that other people don’t always understand, and he asks a lot of questions along the way.” When Noah can’t find an answer in his books about where the wind goes, he sets off on adventure to find out himself. Although this book doesn’t directly name Noah as autistic or as having a sensory processing disorder, it does serve as a good foundation for talking about neurodiversity as well as how people thinking differently is one of the many ways we are all unique and have our own perspectives to share.

This book shows how mamas use their bodies to take care of their babies: through (sometimes) breastfeeding, (sometimes) being pregnant, and through the labor they perform: “Some mamas stay home with their babies all day long. It’s hard work!” “Some mamas dance all night long in special shows. It’s hard work!” The depiction of some mothers as sex workers is what makes this truly groundbreaking, but it’s also notable just for the diversity of experiences, class, and races shown. The collage style illustrations feature photos of mothers taking care of their children, whether by feeding them, protesting for their rights, or making money by cleaning houses.

On Our Street acts as a gentle introduction to kids asking about poverty and homelessness. It is written from a middle+ class perspective, with an us/them framing, so it’s not the best choice for a classroom that might include some students living in poverty. It also doesn’t mention how race factors into poverty. That said, it does mention mental illness and refugee status. The subject matter is depicted in a mix of illustrations and photos, so it does show what poverty and homelessness really looks like. For kids first noticing homelessness and poverty in the world around them, this is a good first step in introducing them to the topic.