18 Bestselling Children’s Books

Period: July/August - 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

Sales for this period also include sales from AAALBC’s Black Wall Street Book Store, a pop-up bookstore which began operating on Black Wall Street, in Tulsa OK, in August of 2021.

Fiction: Sales this period were dominated by writers with decades of experience, including contemporary authors Jewel Parker Rhodes and Terry McMillan and venerable writers, no longer with us, like John Oliver Killens and Donald Goines.

Nonfiction: There was a excellent mix of classic titles from Black writers and important new books from non-Black writers like Richard Rothstein whose research on how governments deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide adversely impacting Black Americans.

Children’s Books: Children’s books were strongly influenced by our Black Wall Street Bookstore’s sales which focused on Oklahoma related stories including the top three selling books, Unspeakable, Opal’s Greenwood Oasis, and Papa’s Free Day Party

Poetry: The impressive anthology of Black poetry, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song, which includes poetry from the colonial period to the present, make our list for the second time this year.

1
Cover for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Unspeakable

by Carole Boston Weatherford
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2
Cover for Opal’s Greenwood Oasis

Opal’s Greenwood Oasis

by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Najah-Amatullah Hylton
Add to Cart
4
Cover for Sulwe

Sulwe

by Lupita Nyong’o
Add to Cart
5
Cover for Baby Says

Baby Says

by John Steptoe
Add to Cart
7
Cover for Do Not Disturb! Meditating…

Do Not Disturb! Meditating…

by Adijah & Atiya Brabham
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8
Cover for Cool Cuts

Cool Cuts

by Mechal Renee Roe
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9
Cover for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

Crown

by Derrick Barnes
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11
Cover for Jump at the Sun

Jump at the Sun

by Alicia D. Williams
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14
Cover for Carla and Monica’s Safari of a Lifetime

Carla and Monica’s Safari of a Lifetime

by Monica R. Guillemin and Carla McMichael
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15
Cover for Something Beautiful

Something Beautiful

by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
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17
Cover for Your Name Is a Song

Your Name Is a Song

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
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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.