Family Life Fun Entertainment Books 12 Diverse Children's Books Kids Will See Themselves In Children's book authors share their favorite stories starring relatable characters who look, feel, and experience life just like your own child, making them amazing sources of support. By Catherine Hong Updated on July 10, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Illustration by Francesca Spatola; Amazon (2) 01 of 12 Stevie HarperCollins Buy Now "A picture book about two brown boys trying to negotiate a new way to have a family, Stevie, by John Steptoe (ages 4 to 8), grabbed me and held me. I knew this was what I'd always look for in books: captivating, realistic stories about people who were at once familiar and not familiar to me." —Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming 02 of 12 Miracle's Boys Puffin Books Buy Now "When my sixth-grade teacher read Miracle's Boys, by Jacqueline Woodson (ages 10+), out loud, I was so moved, not only because I was completely enthralled by the story of three Black boys growing up in Washington Heights, but also because I saw that all my classmates were just as riveted. It awakened me to the power of storytelling for a group." —Elizabeth Acevedo, author of The Poet X 03 of 12 Corduroy Viking Books Buy Now "I related to Corduroy, by Don Freeman (ages 2 to 5), especially Lisa wanting to take home a new bear. This was probably one of my first experiences seeing loneliness in a book." —Brandy Colbert, author of The Only Black Girls in Town 04 of 12 Bread and Jam for Frances HarperCollins Buy Now "Learning how to read was hard for me. Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban (ages 4 to 8), changed everything. Frances was stubborn and anxious, like me. She inspired me to dig in and crack the code of literacy." —Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Shout 05 of 12 The Snowy Day Puffin Books Buy Now "My teacher knew I was dyslexic, and she pulled out The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats (ages 2+), for me. What child doesn't get excited to play in the snow? Seeing Peter—a brown child—so beautifully drawn and dressed, made me happy because it allowed me to believe that I was not invisible." —Vanessa Brantley-Newton, author of Just Like Me 06 of 12 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Amazon.com Buy Now "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor (ages 11+), was the book for me as a kid. I realized that I could be the hero of the narrative." —Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give 07 of 12 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Bantam Buy Now "When I read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (ages 10+) in my teens, I felt that she and I had much in common: We were both Jewish; we both had bushy eyebrows and dark hair; we both had complicated relationships with our mother; we both had yearnings beyond our reach. I was spellbound, and her words transported me to a world outside my own." —Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies 08 of 12 The Cricket in Times Square Square Fish Buy Now "My mother bought The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden (ages 6 to 10), for me, and I carried it with me everywhere for a while. Chester the cricket singing his heart out and someone hearing him—it moved me so. It gave me the idea that being small didn't mean that you had to be silent, or that you wouldn't be heard." —Kate DiCamillo, author of The Tale of Despereaux 09 of 12 Encyclopedia Brown Puffin Books Buy Now "My first time delving into a book where a kid my age was respected for his smarts and what he had to offer the world was when I read the Encyclopedia Brown series, by Donald J. Sobol (ages 8 to 12). Since I was precocious and detail-oriented, like Leroy, I found the books empowering." —Nic Stone, author of Clean Getaway 10 of 12 Before the Mayflower Martino Fine Books Buy Now "In fifth grade, I fell in love with hip-hop music. Mrs. Shelby, my teacher, likened LL Cool J and Run-DMC to poets from the Harlem Renaissance. She gave me Before the Mayflower, by Lerone Bennett Jr. (ages 10+), to learn about Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. That started my thirst for consuming Black history." —Derrick Barnes, author of I Am Every Good Thing 11 of 12 The Day-Glo Brothers Charlesbridge Buy Now "The Day-Glo Brothers, by Chris Barton (ages 7 to 10), tells the true story of how the Switzer brothers combined science and art to invent a set of colors. When my son was in kindergarten, he slept with the book. Now he's a 16-year-old STEM nerd and artist." —Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese 12 of 12 The Arabian Nights Penguin Classics Buy Now "Reading The Arabian Nights (ages 7+) as a child in a dictatorship, this was liberating news: A girl—a brown girl, not a pale princess—could be a storyteller! Her tales could change the world." —Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit