I want books that reflect a diverse, multicultural world. Children's books with multiracial and biracial families and characters are for everyone! My family lives in one of the most diverse cities in the nation and I am so fortunate my children will grow up knowing people from all walks of life. It will help them become the tolerant, compassionate individuals I want them to be.
I like to read multicultural folktales with my kids, but they are not a substitute for contemporary stories with diverse characters. For this list, I chose picture books with a variety of faces from mixed race families. Sometimes, the racial identity of the character is noted, other times, it is merely part of the story's backdrop. One notable (and awesome) feature is that may of these books emphasis the importance of intergenerational relationships! I would love for you to add your additional recommendations in the comments.
For further reading, see all my lists of multicultural books for kids.
(Note: book covers and titles are affiliate links.)
black is brown is tan. This marvelous 1973 classic book is a lovely, warm and poetic tribute to both the specialness and the normalcy of interracial families. It is an overwhelmingly positive book. A white dad and a black mom are loving parents to their "tan" kids. It will make you want to cuddle up with your own kids no matter what the color of your (or their) skin!
The Hello, Goodbye Window. Yes, indeed-y the author of The Phantom Tollbooth has a picture book! Not only that, but it’s illustrated by the illustrious, award-winning Chris Raschka. A young girl loves visiting her grandparents who have an inviting kitchen window you can climb into, look out of, and see your reflection in. The text takes us on a journey with the child as she describes her special relationship with her Poppy and Nanna. She has both African-American and white grandparents. A Caldecott Award winner.
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina. I loved Marisol from the moment I met her, and as a result, she's made an appearance on several of my lists, including books with diverse characters and books for Hispanic Heritage Month. Red-headed half-Scottish half-Peruvian Marisol bounces off the page with great enthusiasm and loves her mismatched life. When her friend, Ollie, challenges her to “match”, Marisol finds she is unhappy with life as a conformist. This is a great story that emphasizes the importance of embracing and accepting one’s uniqueness. (Text is in both English and Spanish.) A Pura Belpré Honor Award Book. The publisher also has a helpful teacher's guide (free, online) to use.
You Were the First is a tender book in which parents, one Asian, one Caucasian, narrate their child's firsts. "You were the first to cry." You were the first to smile." As the child grows a bit, the first change. Such as, "You were the first to dig." It's a sweet book which would make a terrific new baby gift or a special book to read to an older sibling.
"More More More," Said the Baby, one of my favorite books to buy for new moms, is a delightful classic. Vera B. Williams’ book is composed of three vignettes, each showing a grown up (daddy, grandma, mommy) playing with a baby. The three families are diverse: a white child, a bi-racial child and an Asian-American – all equally loved, all equally playful. At the end of each vignette the babies are tucked into bed by their loving grownup. A Caldecott Honor book.
Everywhere Babies. Meyers’ book celebrates the diversity of babies all over the world and how babies might sleep, eat, play and live differently but are all loved equally. Frazee is a wonderful artist and the variety of facial expressions on all the babies are terrific. Frazee does a great job of including people from all different walks of life in her illustrations. I loved the contrast between the “older” parents and the younger ones. That made me giggle a bit.
Grandfather Counts focuses primarily on the intergenerational relationship between a young girl and her grandfather. Helen speaks English, Gong Gong speaks Chinese, and through the act of counting in their respective languages, they form a bond. The girl's biracial identity forms a backdrop, but is not the main focus of the book. Lee & Low has a great teacher's guide to use when reading this book with your kids.
Dumpling Soup. Marisa lives in Hawaii and her family members are Korean, Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese! The extended family gathers together on New Year's Eve to make dumpling soup. Marisa worries that no one will like her non-so-perfect dumplings but the warm, family, festive atmosphere (and some help from grandma) ensures that everyone has a wonderful time. Includes a 4 language glossary.
I Love Saturdays y domingos is a wonderfully uplifting story about a girl who spends Saturdays with her English-speaking grandparents and Sundays with her Spanish-speaking abuelos. She describes the joys of each visit and the reader instantly sees the parallels and how much the family loves one another. In the end, everyone comes together for the little girl’s birthday. There are a lot of Spanish words and phrases but no glossary (at least not in my library copy), but English-only readers will have no problem understanding the story.
Jalapeno Bagels. Pablo needs to bring in something to school for International day. He debates whether or not to bring in his mother's delicious Mexican baked goods or his father's challah. From the title you can guess his decision! This book is sure to make you hungry so have a snack handy. Includes a Yiddish and Spanish glossary.
I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother
. Food imagery abounds in this sweet story about a young boy who wonders what the skin color of his new brother will be. His father has "chocolate" skin, his mother is "strawberry cream Mama milk". When his little sister is born, her skin color is just like his. That is to say, "peanut butter". I was a little tired of the food references by the end of the book but it is a cute read, especially for to-be-big siblings.
My Two Grannies and My Two Grandads. Both books have similar themes: one grandparent is from the Carribbean, the other from England. Each has a very different personality from the other. However, with the help of their grandchild, they learn to appreciate each other's difference and make a little music in the meantime.
Oscar's Half Birthday. I always enjoy Bob Graham's quiet and lovely stories that teach us about how ordinary moments connect us with others and the world around us. In this book, Oscar's family takes an outing to the park to celebrate Oscar's 6 months of life. What I love about this book is that the biracial family simply is.
What books featuring interracial families would you recommend? Are there any types of families you would like to see more of in children's literature? (I would particularly like to add a book with a character with Native American heritage to this list. Do you have one to suggest?)
readswritesrollerskates says
I love THE HELLO/GOODBYE WINDOW! And you've given me more books to check out. 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yay! Happy reading!
Season says
Erica, this is wonderful ideae idea. But there are mixted families who are not black and white. I am always looking for books for my mixed neice adn nephew ( German and S Asian ( East Indian), but never found 1 in 10 years. Why do most people seem to think mixed familyies are Black and White? Next time would you consider my family while writing your books, Thank you
Erica MomandKiddo says
Hi Season, If you look at the list again you will see that there are 8 books on this list that feature families other than black & white mixed families. Please also note that I am not the author of these books. I compiled this book list from books I read and enjoyed. I wish I had a book suggestion for your particular family, but I have not read one yet. If I ever find one, I'll come back and let you know.
Duke says
I agree with your opinion !!
Latista says
Maybe sonyas chickens. Fairly new book. we really enjoyed this book.
Erica says
That's a great book!
Michelle says
Anna Hibiscus is a wonderful series.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I love Anna Hibiscus! I included her on our list of multicultural chapter books. Thanks for the recommendation!
lisabeisellinn says
Black is Brown is Tan is one of my favorites. Family, written by Isabell Monk & Illustrated by Janie Lee Porter, is also a great story about a diverse family.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks for the recommendation!
Corrie says
Andrew's Loose Tooth by Robert Munsch has a white family with 2 black girls. Neat.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I've not read that one, thanks so much for the recommendation!
Rianna says
Andrew's Loose Tooth is based on the author's own family. Andrew is their biological son, and the girls are adopted. One of the girls (Tyya) is featured in the book Something Good. Robert Munsch is my favourite children's author. Most of his stories have characters based on real children he meets as he travels and reads in schools and libraries, and many of his books feature several ethnicities. Some of his stories are culturally diverse as well, like A Promise is a Promise, an Inuit story.
Erica says
Thanks for the recommendations!
Liz says
I have to add some books from my favorite publisher, Barefoot Books, of course 🙂
Shopping with Dad is a fun story about mayhem at the grocery store (and apologizing afterwards) and features a multi-racial family - Dad is white, the little girl is bi-racial, and when they go home to tell Mom all about their day we find out that she is Black. I love this book because it's just a story - their skin colors are never mentioned, they are just a normal regular family.
Similarly, we have a new word book - My Big Barefoot Book of Wonderful Words - that follows a multi-racial family through their day in a wonderfully diverse neighborhood. It's also an intergenerational story - the grandfather lives with the family and spends time with the two youngest kids during the day.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thank you for the suggestions!!
Monica Brown says
Wonderful list! Thanks for collecting these all in one place and thanks for including Marisol:).
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thank you, Monica. I just adore Marisol.
Alana - eSpectacularKids says
What a great collection, thank you for putting these titles all in one place! A book with a Yiddish and Spanish glossary sounds truly unique 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
I hope you enjoy reading them.
griseldaheppel says
What a lovely selection of picture books. If you're looking for ones for MG readers, can I mention mine, Ante's Inferno? The heroine, 12 year-old Ante (Antonia), is bi-racial. She isn't popular and is picked on by her enemy, Florence, but not for her skin colour - kids find lots of other reasons to take against each other! Racism isn't a theme. Ante is brave, kind, loyal and honest but also diffident and impetuous. And she happens to be black.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thank you for the recommendation!
Alison B @ The Way He Plays says
I love Jalapeño Bagels and Everwhere Babies looks familiar! You have given me lots of books to look for, thank you! My husband is Peruvian and I am Australian so books like this will be great for our family!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Terrific! Happy reading!
Katie Pinch says
This is such a nice collection of multicultural books. It's important for kids to learn about all different types of families, like my own multicultural family :)! Thanks for sharing at the #LovetoLearnLinky! -Katie @ALittlePinchofPerfect
Peter says
Very inspiring. Can't wait for books showing multiracial bi-sexual families with small children.
Jennifer says
One of our family favorites is A Child's Calendar, a book of lovely poems by John Updike, with wonderful illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. The family has a Black dad and white mom, and like all my favorite multi-racial books, it's never mentioned--it just is.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks for the recommendation!
Daneace Jeffery says
I would love to add my books to your list. Books feature a biracial little girl and her family. Ella and Her Bubbles is the first book in the series and Grandma's Two is the second book. They can be found on Amazon, BN.com and my website. Thanks, Daneace
Tamiko says
Allen Say's books are wonderful. I recommend Allison and The Favorite Daughter, about Asian/White families. I also recommend the book he illustrated, How My Parents Learned To Eat, about the courtship between a white American sailor and a young Japanese woman.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks for the recommendations! I love Allen Say.
joanie boney says
I write children books that are multiracial and multicultural.
L Layne says
"It's Raining, It's Pouring, We're Exploring" by Polly Peters includes a pair of white siblings and a black cousin - It's another one where the multiracial family just "is."
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks for the recommendation!
Cate says
Misadventures of the Family Fletcher is a great chapter book about two dads that adopt lots of kids of different ethnicities.
Erica says
That's a great book! It's on a chapter book list about diverse families. 🙂
Carissa says
Are you aware of this website? I know it's an old post, but in case you're still interested.
http://weneeddiversebooks.org/where-to-find-diverse-books/
Erica says
Yes, that is a great resource.
Valetta says
Just wanted to mention a book I'm cataloging for my library, which includes a biracial family, but is not centered around (or even mentions) the subject of race: "The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold" by Maureen Fergus. It is an adorable book, and I think any book which throws in diversity "just because" is worth mentioning.
Erica says
Thanks for the recommendation! I agree, diversity should be a given in all picture books!
Stefanie Delinois says
I am looking for just stories with families that are multiracial. For our situation, my husband is a black Haitian American and I am a White American. We have two daughters. I would love to find stories that aren't necessarily centered around race or ethnicity, but that feature families that look like ours (or just multiracial, multicultural families in general). Our kids are 3 & 1.
Caro Day says
Hi - great to have found your site.
You may like this?
Ella & the Knot Fairies
by amanda baker
Leah says
Baby Ruby Bawled is a great book with a multiracial family. It's not a theme of the book (which is more about big siblings and crying babies).
Erica says
Thank you for the recommendation.
Hopey Gardner says
Jane Smiley wrote a book called “Twenty Yawns” where the parents are different ethnicities. My family really enjoyed it.
Sandra Strom says
Another lovely book is "A Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats. Not a multi racial family but a very diverse neighborhood story. Very appropriate for this time of the year too!
Sam says
Everywhere Babies is one of our favorites! Books featuring biracial kids we also like are Twindergarten, The Airport Book, and others here: . Thanks for highlighting these!
colleen bruant says
Hi! Thanks for a great list. You might want to explore the Talking with Trees Series. . In particular "Be Bigger" shows a multicultural set of friends learning to be respectful and kind, even when feelings are hurt and "What if" shows a pair of siblings learning to ask what if before they hurt themselves, someone else, or make their momma mad. Each story shows the children's parents in a similar situation-- that great multi-generational element that helps kids connect to the family and community around them. The books are a great resource for parents or teachers who want children to see multi-racial, multi-ethnic friend groups in everyday situations.