Politics & Current Affairs Books for Kids
recommended by children's authors and teachers
Last updated: March 11, 2025
In recent years Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg have reminded us that children can and do take political initiative and use their voices in global affairs.
In our Politics & Current Affairs section you can find books for kids on various issues that children will encounter and want to find out more about. Teacher and author Paula Young Shelton recommends books on antiracism; award-winning author Gill Lewis chooses books for children about refugees; and author Adrienne Kisner brings us her recommendations for books on political engagement for teens.
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1
In Your Hands
by Brian Pinkney (Illustrator) & Carole Boston Weatherford -
2
The Day You Begin
by Jacqueline Woodson & Rafael López (Illustrator) -
3
I Am Enough
by Grace Byers & Keturah Bobo (Illustrator) -
4
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale
by John Steptoe -
5
Milo's Museum
by Purple Wong (Illustrator) & Zetta Elliott
The Best Antiracist Books for Kids, recommended by Paula Young Shelton
The Best Antiracist Books for Kids, recommended by Paula Young Shelton
Understanding the African American experience is not just about learning about suffering, it’s also about celebrating a vibrant culture and its roots across the millennia. Paula Young Shelton, author of Child of the Civil Rights Movement, recommends the best antiracist books for kids.
The best books on Political Engagement For Teens, recommended by Adrienne Kisner
Are you a teenager who is furious about the way the world seems to be going? Do you feel powerless and overwhelmed? Author Adrienne Kisner recommends five really good books that will inspire and inform teens and young adults, giving them the tools to get involved in activism, to understand politics—and to change the world.
Children’s Books About the Refugee Crisis, recommended by Gill Lewis
How can parents even begin to explain the refugee crisis to children and young adults? Here, award-winning children’s author Gill Lewis shares her selection of vital primers – from simple picture books to challenging graphic novels – and discusses the role of ‘informed storytelling’ in describing this fraught and fragile human experience
