Research shows that exposure to and experience with our child’s birth culture is necessary for him to develop a secure, confident racial identity. Figuring out HOW to do that can be overwhelming for parents who are also managing attachment and trauma issues, special needs, IEPs, or other support for your family.

Where Do You Find Diverse Books?

Kids’ books are a fantastic way to get these conversations started at home. In age-appropriate ways, you can introduce information about your child’s birth culture or family makeup. Reading together about the diverse people in our homes and communities broadens his understanding of himself and his story. Diverse books allow us to learn together and tell our children that other families out there look like ours. Our kids feel valued and validated when they read stories about folks like them. If you are looking for diverse books for your kids, we have some great resources for you!

We Have Book Lists!

Of course, we think the CreatingaFamily.org Best Adoption Books For Kids And Adults are pretty diverse! The suggestions on those lists come from our staff, podcast listeners, readers (like you!), and online support group members. With such a diverse group of folks weighing in, our listings represent a wide variety of transracial adoption issues by country, age, and topic.

We always look for other suggestions for books you’ve read and loved. If you don’t see your favorite on our different lists, you can share it with us! Send an email to info@creatingafamily.org – share the book title, author’s name, and book summary.

Try the “We Need Diverse Books” site.

If you surf around a bit on the We Need Diverse Books site, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by their many resources for families, schools, writers, and publishers. Their mission is “putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children.” They’ve developed a wide-reaching platform to accomplish that goal.

The WNDB Summer Reading Series is most notable for its “If you like this book, read this next” book lists. For example, here’s one specific to diversity in adoption stories (quoted from their Tumblr account),

If you liked Julia Alvarez’ FINDING MIRACLES read Cynthia Kadohata’s HALF A WORLD AWAY because both feature adopted children who are confronted with difficult challenges from their pre-adoption past. Read more about HALF A WORLD AWAY at the Smithsonian BookDragon.

WNDB is also active on social media and publishes a blog covering topics in the world of diverse literature for young people.

Consider the Association for Library Service to Children.

The Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, keeps updated lists of award-winning children’s books. Both websites have great search functions for more specific terms unique to your family dynamic. (Big thanks to my school librarian cousin for sharing her favorite resources with me!)

These well-known award lists will get you started on the search for great diverse books for children and young adults:

Also available at the ALA site is The Rainbow Project Book List. This list offers suggestions for books that deal with LGBTQ+ issues for children up to age 18.

Common Sense Media is an excellent option.

You’ll want to check out the various reviews and resources for media at Common Sense Media. You can search by your family’s cultural and racial diversity needs. There are also resources for educators and advocates that you might find helpful.

A quick search on the site using the term “transracial adoption” with the filter of “Books” yielded 157 results. I was curious about books for my daughters: a search by the term “Chinese culture” yielded 573 results! We actually own quite a few on the list and they are family favorites.

The lists are easy to use, and many of them are broken down by age. Here’s a short sampling of their book lists. It’s by no means exhaustive.

Other Websites and Links of Interest

  • LEE & LOW BOOKS. This large American multicultural children’s book publisher offers resources for parents and educators. It’s easy to find what you need because they break them down by age and culture. Their blog is worth a peek, too.
  • Learning for Justice . They offer classroom resources, professional development, and much more. You can choose from topics like race, religion, ability, identity, and immigration that will be useful to transracial adoptive families.
  • Your local library. Don’t forget, in this age of having resources at your fingertips, your local library or school library is still available! Walk right up to that circulation desk and, as my other librarian-cousin said, “Never hesitate to ask. Who knows what can happen.”

Looking for diverse books for our kids is no easy task. We hope these resources will help you find a variety of books to read to or with your kids no matter your family make-up. Use them to start conversations with your kids about transracial adoption, diversity, inclusivity, and growing a strong, healthy racial identity. The bonus is that you will be reading together. This time together is always great for attachment, reinforcing your child’s reading skills, and fostering a love for learning!

Have you built a diverse library for your kids? Tell us about it in the comments!

Image Credit: Amina Filkins; cottonbro studio;  KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA