Topic: African Americans in Children's Literature at UConn Archives & Special Collections — By Decade

You can use this page to explore a selection of books related to African Americans in children's literature held in Archives & Special Collections by decade. Clicking on each decade tab will show you a list of titles by time period. Clicking on a book title will take you to the book's catalog record.

This is a selection of books by decade, inspired by Augusta Baker's bibliographies, and more recent bibliographies of scholars of African American children's literature. It is not a comprehensive list of all titles held in Archives & Special Collections on this topic. Additionally, due to the racism in the U.S., many early titles that depict African Americans were written by white authors. The early titles included here were selected from Augusta Baker's bibliographies, and as such, follow her criteria: 

[T]hese books have been chosen with three points in mind — language, theme, and illustration. When considering the factor of language, the most important point is to eliminate books which describe Negroes in terms of derision....Another language consideration is the use of heavy dialect....The use of regional vernacular is acceptable but dialect should be used with great care.
The next point to consider is the theme of the book. Is the Negro character a clown and a buffoon whose only object in life is to serve his master faithfully and without question or is he a character who is making some worth-while contribution to the progress of society?...
The third factor is illustration. An artist can portray a Negro child — black skin, crinkly hair, and short nose — and make him attractive and appealing.

Quotation taken from "The Changing Image of the Black in Children's Literature," Horn Book, 1975, by Augusta Baker.