Awesome Non-White Children's Lit: An Introduction
jadelennox and I just spent an awesome awesome night picking and choosing from amongst our favorite children's and young adult books by authors of color, or by white authors who have well-developed, non-stereotyped protagonists of color. We couldn't even list a fraction of the authors we loved, and if you go through the list, you will see that many of these books say "everything by this author". In other words, there are lots of wonderful books, and if you don't find what you are looking for here among the fantasy, science fiction, picturebooks, nonfiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction for very young, middle grade, and older readers, then just ask one of those awesome library-type employees, because some of them are like magic for finding the things you are looking for.
This list is just the tiniest sampling of what's available for realistic fiction, nonfiction, and picturebooks. We couldn't even begin to list everybody great in those genres who are authors of color, illustrators of color, or white authors who are bringing well-written characters of color to the field. Fantasy and science fiction are somewhat thinner on the ground.
All of these books have been published for and marketed to children at every stage of their existence.
Books by white authors featuring protagonists of color are only listed if the protagonists are treated as people, not as exotic others (e.g. Jacob Black, were he the protagonist, would not provoke a listing). They are not listed if the hero is white but has a sidekick of color or an exotically attractive love interest of color. They are not listed if the hero is white but there is an important villain of color. They are not listed if the book takes place in a magical far future where race has been erased and everybody is the same color of beige. They are not listed if the characters of color have some unusual magical trait that the normal characters don't have which could be associated with negative stereotypes about people that ethnicity. We selected these books because we've read them, we like them, and we don't find them overly problematic, but there are plenty more out there if you look.
For more suggestions, look at Coretta Scott King Award winners and honor books, the Pura Belpre Award winners and honors, Carl Brandon Award winners, the American Indian Library Association, and also your local library. We've heard browsing there can get you some pretty awesome things.
Nonfiction by authors of color and about people of color
Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II and Jim Thorpe: Original All-American, and about a hundred other fiction and nonfiction books, by Joseph Bruchac
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits by Wynton Marsalis, Phil Schaap, and Paul Rogers
Nonfiction by white authors about people of color
Martha Graham, by Russell Freedman
Graphic novels by authors of color
Good as Lily, by Derek Kirk Kim
American-Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
Graphic novels by white authors about people of color
Pedro and Me, by Judd Winick
Picturebooks by authors and illustrators of color
everything by Brian Collier
everything by Donald Crews
everything by David Diaz
everything by Leo and Diane Dillon
everything by Christopher Myers
everything by Kadir Nelson
everything by Andrea Davis Pinkney
everything by Brian Pinkney
everything by Jerry Pinkney
everything by Allen Say
everything by Ed Young
Mystery Bottle, by Kristen Balouch. A boy in New York receives a package from Iran, which magically transports him to the arms of his grandfather.
Nappy Hair, by Carolivia Herron
Picturebooks by white people about characters of color
most of the recent books by Rachel Isadora
The Snowy Day (and related stories) by Ezra Jack Keats
Yo? Yes! and Charlie Parker Played Bebop by Chris Raschka
See the other half of the list (fantasy/sci fi and realistic for children and young adults) at jadelennox's LJ here.
ETA: There are more suggestions in comments!
This list is just the tiniest sampling of what's available for realistic fiction, nonfiction, and picturebooks. We couldn't even begin to list everybody great in those genres who are authors of color, illustrators of color, or white authors who are bringing well-written characters of color to the field. Fantasy and science fiction are somewhat thinner on the ground.
All of these books have been published for and marketed to children at every stage of their existence.
Books by white authors featuring protagonists of color are only listed if the protagonists are treated as people, not as exotic others (e.g. Jacob Black, were he the protagonist, would not provoke a listing). They are not listed if the hero is white but has a sidekick of color or an exotically attractive love interest of color. They are not listed if the hero is white but there is an important villain of color. They are not listed if the book takes place in a magical far future where race has been erased and everybody is the same color of beige. They are not listed if the characters of color have some unusual magical trait that the normal characters don't have which could be associated with negative stereotypes about people that ethnicity. We selected these books because we've read them, we like them, and we don't find them overly problematic, but there are plenty more out there if you look.
For more suggestions, look at Coretta Scott King Award winners and honor books, the Pura Belpre Award winners and honors, Carl Brandon Award winners, the American Indian Library Association, and also your local library. We've heard browsing there can get you some pretty awesome things.
Nonfiction by authors of color and about people of color
Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II and Jim Thorpe: Original All-American, and about a hundred other fiction and nonfiction books, by Joseph Bruchac
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits by Wynton Marsalis, Phil Schaap, and Paul Rogers
Nonfiction by white authors about people of color
Martha Graham, by Russell Freedman
Graphic novels by authors of color
Good as Lily, by Derek Kirk Kim
American-Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
Graphic novels by white authors about people of color
Pedro and Me, by Judd Winick
Picturebooks by authors and illustrators of color
everything by Brian Collier
everything by Donald Crews
everything by David Diaz
everything by Leo and Diane Dillon
everything by Christopher Myers
everything by Kadir Nelson
everything by Andrea Davis Pinkney
everything by Brian Pinkney
everything by Jerry Pinkney
everything by Allen Say
everything by Ed Young
Mystery Bottle, by Kristen Balouch. A boy in New York receives a package from Iran, which magically transports him to the arms of his grandfather.
Nappy Hair, by Carolivia Herron
Picturebooks by white people about characters of color
most of the recent books by Rachel Isadora
The Snowy Day (and related stories) by Ezra Jack Keats
Yo? Yes! and Charlie Parker Played Bebop by Chris Raschka
See the other half of the list (fantasy/sci fi and realistic for children and young adults) at jadelennox's LJ here.
ETA: There are more suggestions in comments!