Celebrate Diversity with Books from Lerner
Category Definitions
Social Justice: Books with themes, plots, or information about using civil disobedience, advocacy, or other tactics to seek justice for disenfranchised or oppressed groups of people
Race & Ethnicity: Books with primary character(s) or subjects from racial or ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized in children's literature.
#OwnVoices: Books where the protagonist and the author share an underrepresented or marginalized identity; Lerner Books are labeled #OwnVoices only when the author openly shares the same characteristics as their protagonist and agrees with this designation; learn more about the author and the book lernerbooks.com.
Physical Disability/Illness: Books featuring characters or providing information about people who have illnesses or impairments that limit their physical functioning.
Immigration/Refugees: Books featuring characters or providing information about immigrant, emigrant, or refugee experiences.
LGBTQIA+: Books featuring characters or providing information about people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or any identification within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Mental Health & Neurodiversity: Books featuring characters or providing information about people who have neurological variances and differences (autism, dyslexia, ADHD, etc.) or who have mental illnesses or other mental health struggles.
Feminism: Books with themes, plots, or information about women's rights on the basis of equality of the sexes.
#MeToo: Books with themes, plots, or information pertaining to sexual harrassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse, primarily against women by men.
Social Class: Books with themes, plots, or information about social class, wealth, or poverty, especially focusing on inequalities.
Celebrating Differences: Books with themes, plots, or information specifically about diversity, celebrating differences, inclusion, equality, or acceptance; can include non-human characters.
Download the Diverse Books Catalog
Browse our PDF catalog identifying books across eleven categories: Social Justice, Race and Ethnicity, #OwnVoices, Immigration and Refugees, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health and Neurodiversity, Physical Disability and Illness, Social Class, Celebrating Differences, Feminism, and #MeToo. Download here.
Additional Resources
Read Woke™ Books from Lerner: Read Woke Books is a new brand created in collaboration with Cicely Lewis, the #ReadWoke librarian. Learn more at lernerbooks.com/readwoke.
Webinar with #ReadWoke Librarian Cicely Lewis: What is a #ReadWoke Book and how can having more of them benefit your library program? Learn how diversifying your collections will make a difference in your library. Watch the webinar recording here.
Resources for Finding Diverse Books
Social Justice Booklists
Social Justice Books: Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
American Indians in Children’s Literature
Asian/Pacific Americans Librarians Association‘s Talk Story Resources
The Brown Bookshelf
Latinxs in Kid Lit
Rich in Color
Disability in Kidlit
De Colores
Hijabi Librarians
Booklists from the Conscious Kid
Diverse Books Finder
Cooperative Children's Book Center Diversity Statistics Book Search
TeachingBooks.net Diverse Books Toolkit
Pura Belpré Award
Coretta Scott King Awards
Schneider Family Book Award
Stonewall Book Awards
Rainbow Project Book List
Resources for Performing a Library Diversity Audit
Baker and Taylor Diversity Analysis Tool
Follett: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Ingram iCurate inClusive Assessment Service
Overdrive Diverse Reading Resource Center
Reframing Classic Literature
DisruptTexts.org
Conversation with Dr. Kimberly Parker, Cofounder of #DisruptTexts
Read for a Better World: Inclusive Classroom Libraries and More
Read for a Better World is a new kind of inclusive literacy collection, designed to help students think, create, share, and grow along the themes of identity, diversity, justice, and action. Explore classroom libraries, take-home book packs, student and educator guides, and more materials designed to help students grow as readers and as people. Learn more at ReadforaBetterWorld.com.
Additional Diverse Books and Social Justice Resources
Talking to Kids about Race: Resources from Rebekah Gienapp
We Need Diverse Books
Blog from Philip Nel: Seuss, Racism, and Resources for Anti-Racist Children’s Literature
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Interested in Books to Support SEL?
Explore our social and emotional learning hub: lernerbooks.com/SEL.
Updated August 2022