19 Bestselling Children’s Books

Period: January/February - 2021

AALBC Bestseller Seal

The African American Literature Book Club’s Bestsellers List has been published continuously since 1998. It celebrates the bestselling titles from our curated selection of books written by or about Black people. Learn More below.

★ New: The BLK Bestsellers: America’s Bestselling Books

Fiction: Limitation of Life by d. E. Rogers the top-selling fiction book does not come out until Mar 23, but sold well due to a $5-off campaign for preorders.

Nonfiction: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson were, by far, the bestselling books across all genres this period.

Children’s Books: The inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Amanda Gorman, has three bestselling books that have not been published yet! She is the only author to accomplish this feat.

Poetry: African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song Edited by Kevin Young topped our poetry list followed by (Amanda Gorman’s new collection, Call Us What We Carry. Interest in Gorman’s work surged in reaction to the poem she read during the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

2
Cover for Jump at the Sun

Jump at the Sun

by Alicia D. Williams
Add to Cart
3
Cover for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Unspeakable

by Carole Boston Weatherford
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5
Cover for Your Name Is a Song

Your Name Is a Song

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
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7
Cover for Different and the Same

Different and the Same

by Adijah & Atiya Brabham
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9
Cover for Cool Cuts

Cool Cuts

by Mechal Renee Roe
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10
Cover for P.S. Be Eleven

P.S. Be Eleven

by Rita Williams-Garcia
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11
Cover for Baby Says

Baby Says

by John Steptoe
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12
Cover for Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem

Change Sings

by Amanda Gorman
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14
Cover for I Promise

I Promise

by Lebron James
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16
Cover for She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm

She Was the First!

by Katheryn Russell-Brown
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17
Cover for Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood

Sugar Hill

by Carole Boston Weatherford
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18
Cover for I Am Loved

I Am Loved

by Nikki Giovanni
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19
Cover for The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country

The Hill We Climb

by Amanda Gorman
Add to Cart

More About our Bestsellers List

View a printer-friendly version or a collage of the book covers.

You will learn about books selling well in the Black community that may never show up on lists published by corporate entities. Spread the word about our list; don’t let one or two lists, which we don’t control, determine which books are important.

We collect our bestselling titles from all our sales channels. The majority of our sales come from this website and our in-person events. We also include sales generated through our affiliate relationships, including Bookshop.org, Libro.fm (audiobooks), and Amazon.com*.

*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice to ensure we do not exclude authors who are exclusive to that platform. We still discourage exclusivity but support all Black authors.