interracial friendship picture books
November 13, 2024 8:15 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations for picture books (think ages 3-6) that include (but do not have to be about) interracial friendships. I am NOT looking for mixed-race families, there are tons of those. It's fine if that's also present but it's not the specific thing I need.
">Max and Kate would be a perfect example of what I'm looking for.
">Max and Kate would be a perfect example of what I'm looking for.
Oh, good question! I just tried to mine my granddaughter's extensive checkout history at the library, because I know there are quite a few, and it's so hard to figure it out from the covers... (there are well over 1000 books on the list, so I definitely do not remember them all!)
- Multiple titles in the Ladybug Girl series (definitely the Best Ever Playdate and the Bug Squad) by David Soman.
- I *think* Stacey's Extraordinary Words and Stacey's Remarkable Books by Stacy Abrams
- Pierre and Paul: Avalanche and Pierre and Paul: Dragon by Caroline Adderson (bonus, it's also dual language English and French)
I also have suggestions for books at the picture-laden early chapter books level, as we're reading more and more of those these days, so I'm including them in case you'd like them.
- Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol by Andres Miedoso (entire series)
- Party Diaries (I think all the ones we've read do)
What an exercise in frustration thanks to unhelpful covers! I'll come back if I find more.
posted by stormyteal at 9:17 PM on November 13, 2024
- Multiple titles in the Ladybug Girl series (definitely the Best Ever Playdate and the Bug Squad) by David Soman.
- I *think* Stacey's Extraordinary Words and Stacey's Remarkable Books by Stacy Abrams
- Pierre and Paul: Avalanche and Pierre and Paul: Dragon by Caroline Adderson (bonus, it's also dual language English and French)
I also have suggestions for books at the picture-laden early chapter books level, as we're reading more and more of those these days, so I'm including them in case you'd like them.
- Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol by Andres Miedoso (entire series)
- Party Diaries (I think all the ones we've read do)
What an exercise in frustration thanks to unhelpful covers! I'll come back if I find more.
posted by stormyteal at 9:17 PM on November 13, 2024
A lot of the Charlie and Lola books would work, my kids loved them at that age.
posted by cpatterson at 11:21 PM on November 13, 2024
posted by cpatterson at 11:21 PM on November 13, 2024
I'm sure I'll think of more later, but a very, very nice book that meets your criteria is The Boy With Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis.
Oh, another of our recent favourites: My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano and Jillian Tamaki. Deeply moving and incredibly illustrated child's perspective of two kids meeting in the park for the first time.
posted by distorte at 1:42 AM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
Oh, another of our recent favourites: My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano and Jillian Tamaki. Deeply moving and incredibly illustrated child's perspective of two kids meeting in the park for the first time.
posted by distorte at 1:42 AM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
My daughter really liked Bilal Cooks Daal and many of the classic Ezra Jack Keats books.
posted by mai at 5:11 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by mai at 5:11 AM on November 14, 2024
Best answer: The Questioneers books come to mind.
The original picture books mainly focus on the story of each individual, but the illustrations do include the friends from the other books.
The early chapter books skew toward the higher end of your age range, but they have more interaction between friends (albeit fewer illustrations).
There is also a TV series (Netflix) titled after one of the characters, Ada Twist, Scientist, but the show is focused on her and two of her other friends as they work together to solve problems.
posted by subwaytiles at 5:57 AM on November 14, 2024
The original picture books mainly focus on the story of each individual, but the illustrations do include the friends from the other books.
The early chapter books skew toward the higher end of your age range, but they have more interaction between friends (albeit fewer illustrations).
There is also a TV series (Netflix) titled after one of the characters, Ada Twist, Scientist, but the show is focused on her and two of her other friends as they work together to solve problems.
posted by subwaytiles at 5:57 AM on November 14, 2024
My kiddo read and enjoyed the Katie Woo and Pedro books at age 6, I thought they were nice too. There's a younger series of just Katie Woo books and also of just Pedro books, both of which include friends who are not of the same race as their respective protagonists.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:57 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:57 AM on November 14, 2024
Any Daniel Tiger books where they play with all the friends - obviously some of the kids are animals, but the human characters are of different races.
posted by Ragged Richard at 8:03 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by Ragged Richard at 8:03 AM on November 14, 2024
Trixie and Sonja become friends at the end of Knuffle Bunny Too
posted by brujita at 8:20 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by brujita at 8:20 AM on November 14, 2024
My daughter (just turned two) and I have enjoyed Our Favorite Day of the Year for several months. It's about a diverse classroom, where the kids celebrate their favorite days and get to teach their friends about the associated traditions. The four boys who sit at a kindergarten table lead the story--I wish there had also been female classmates as the central characters, but still appreciate the story.
posted by icaicaer at 11:24 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by icaicaer at 11:24 AM on November 14, 2024
Just shelved a book at my school library that fits! Silver Linings by Fiona Woodcock
posted by wsquared at 11:59 AM on November 14, 2024
posted by wsquared at 11:59 AM on November 14, 2024
Best answer: Seconding Katie Woo & Pedro. They are fun and pretty compelling. They sometimes get packaged/marketed as chapter books but the level of text is early reader/picture book.
Ben & Emma's Big Hit by Newsom is about a kid with dyslexia but also about him and his friends teaching their teacher to play baseball. The friends in the book are different races. Text is kind of long-- you can summarize it though.
Mr. S by Arnaldo is a first-day-of-school story that actually has 2 stories happening at once. I don't want to spoiler you but it's mostly about whether a sandwich is a teacher. The class is diverse. The First Week of School by Beckmeyer is another new school year story. It's hilarious! The class is diverse, including an interracial friend group called the SPORT KINGS (they named themselves.)
Lift, Mix, Fling! Machines Can Do Anything! by Schaefer is about basic physics/simple machines and features kids of a variety of races playing together (and also one bunny creature.) Similarly the Baby Loves [Concepts] board books by Chan & Spiro are good for diversity and actually pretty good at explaining relativity, democracy, etc.
Whatever Comes Tomorrow by Levington is about standing up to worry/fear and every page has a multiracial friend group or family that can be a starting place to a conversation. Also the illustrations are great.
Dancing the Tinikling by Peyton is about a Filipino kid learning the tinikling dance (his friends of other races are part of the story.) The other Own Voices, Own Stories Award books are also worth investigating.
The Kid with Big, Big Ideas by Winn Lee is about a kid who is imaginative and thinks outside the box-- they have a variety of school friends and people around them. This is a standalone part of a series but I don't have the other two to hand-- but I expect they are similar.
Cat & Bunny by Lundquist is a story about friendship...the protagonists are of two different races but it's not part of the story. All the children in the book have animal hats from birth for some reason though.
A Bear to Share by Alba et al is about sharing with people who are less fortunate. It's a little glurge-y but basically fine.
Shoe-la-la! by Beaumont is about a multiracial friend group of girls who are all shopping for fancy dress-up shoes together. (The pages have glitter!)
Baller-Ina by Casal is about a girl who loves ballet AND basketball. Her friends on the team and at ballet are a variety of races.
Winter Candle by Ashford is about neighbors of a variety of races and cultures in the same building who all need a candle for some reason (Thanksgiving table, havdalah, power outage) who all borrow the same one. It's a fun winter holidays book.
Swashby and the Sea by Ferry is about a grumpy old retired sea captain who makes friends with his neighbors on the shared beach. It's mostly about him being grumpy.
The Doorbell Rang by Hutchins is about a family with cookies to share, and kids keep coming over until the cookies get spread thin.
Finding Kindness by Underwood is about everyday kindness and has a lot to look at and point out. There are a variety of people of different races working and playing and being kind together, some arguably as friends. When We Are Kind by Gray Smith is similar but more direct with examples of everyday kindness among a variety of people. Both are pretty good for starting a conversation.
Grandma's Tiny House by Brown-Wood is a counting book about a big family having a family dinner (probably Thanksgiving but the holiday is not specifically mentioned.) The family is Black but they have one non-Black adult friend who comes over.
In Every Life by Frazee is a philosophy-of-life kind of book that shows pictures of a diverse range of people doing everyday life stuff. This is a good bedtime book. Marla Frazee as an illustrator is very good at showing a variety of people in her pictures. Roller Coaster by Frazee is about all the people in line to ride and has wonderful crowd scenes to look at.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:11 PM on November 14, 2024
Ben & Emma's Big Hit by Newsom is about a kid with dyslexia but also about him and his friends teaching their teacher to play baseball. The friends in the book are different races. Text is kind of long-- you can summarize it though.
Mr. S by Arnaldo is a first-day-of-school story that actually has 2 stories happening at once. I don't want to spoiler you but it's mostly about whether a sandwich is a teacher. The class is diverse. The First Week of School by Beckmeyer is another new school year story. It's hilarious! The class is diverse, including an interracial friend group called the SPORT KINGS (they named themselves.)
Lift, Mix, Fling! Machines Can Do Anything! by Schaefer is about basic physics/simple machines and features kids of a variety of races playing together (and also one bunny creature.) Similarly the Baby Loves [Concepts] board books by Chan & Spiro are good for diversity and actually pretty good at explaining relativity, democracy, etc.
Whatever Comes Tomorrow by Levington is about standing up to worry/fear and every page has a multiracial friend group or family that can be a starting place to a conversation. Also the illustrations are great.
Dancing the Tinikling by Peyton is about a Filipino kid learning the tinikling dance (his friends of other races are part of the story.) The other Own Voices, Own Stories Award books are also worth investigating.
The Kid with Big, Big Ideas by Winn Lee is about a kid who is imaginative and thinks outside the box-- they have a variety of school friends and people around them. This is a standalone part of a series but I don't have the other two to hand-- but I expect they are similar.
Cat & Bunny by Lundquist is a story about friendship...the protagonists are of two different races but it's not part of the story. All the children in the book have animal hats from birth for some reason though.
A Bear to Share by Alba et al is about sharing with people who are less fortunate. It's a little glurge-y but basically fine.
Shoe-la-la! by Beaumont is about a multiracial friend group of girls who are all shopping for fancy dress-up shoes together. (The pages have glitter!)
Baller-Ina by Casal is about a girl who loves ballet AND basketball. Her friends on the team and at ballet are a variety of races.
Winter Candle by Ashford is about neighbors of a variety of races and cultures in the same building who all need a candle for some reason (Thanksgiving table, havdalah, power outage) who all borrow the same one. It's a fun winter holidays book.
Swashby and the Sea by Ferry is about a grumpy old retired sea captain who makes friends with his neighbors on the shared beach. It's mostly about him being grumpy.
The Doorbell Rang by Hutchins is about a family with cookies to share, and kids keep coming over until the cookies get spread thin.
Finding Kindness by Underwood is about everyday kindness and has a lot to look at and point out. There are a variety of people of different races working and playing and being kind together, some arguably as friends. When We Are Kind by Gray Smith is similar but more direct with examples of everyday kindness among a variety of people. Both are pretty good for starting a conversation.
Grandma's Tiny House by Brown-Wood is a counting book about a big family having a family dinner (probably Thanksgiving but the holiday is not specifically mentioned.) The family is Black but they have one non-Black adult friend who comes over.
In Every Life by Frazee is a philosophy-of-life kind of book that shows pictures of a diverse range of people doing everyday life stuff. This is a good bedtime book. Marla Frazee as an illustrator is very good at showing a variety of people in her pictures. Roller Coaster by Frazee is about all the people in line to ride and has wonderful crowd scenes to look at.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:11 PM on November 14, 2024
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