10 Bestselling Children’s Books

Period: May/June - 2019

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: Fiction titles were the most popular genre this period. The category was led by Raisins in Milk by David Covin. We are particularly proud of this title as it is perhaps the first book written, published, designed, and printed by Black owned companies, to make AALBC’s bestsellers list. Raisins in Milk is also the first book to sport, on the printed book, AALBC’s Bestsellers Seal

Nonfiction: The brand new book, Life Is God’s Best Gift: Wisdom from the Ancestors on Finding Peace and Joy in Today’s World (Amistad, Jun 25, 2019), by Sam Chege led all other nonfiction titles by a large margin.

Children’s Books: The super-talented duo of poet Kwame Alexander and artist Kadir Nelson, bring us the top selling Children’s book, The Undefeated.

Poetry: There were not enough poetry book sales, this period, to generate a bestsellers list for poetry. We encourage you to check out the poetry books recently nominated for a Hurston/Wright Award, for some great books.

1
Cover for The Undefeated

The Undefeated

by Kwame Alexander
Add to Cart
2
Cover for Brer Rabbit Retold

Brer Rabbit Retold

by Arthur R. Flowers
Add to Cart
4
Cover for Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

Voice of Freedom

by Carole Boston Weatherford
Add to Cart
5
Cover for Jake the Fake Goes for Laughs

Jake the Fake Goes for Laughs

by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach
Add to Cart
6
Cover for Just Us Women

Just Us Women

by Jeannette Caines
Add to Cart
8
Cover for Blended

Blended

by Sharon M. Draper
Add to Cart
10
Cover for Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library

Schomburg

by Carole Boston Weatherford
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.