15 Bestselling Children’s Books

Period: November/December - 2021

Celebrating Black stories and authors since 1998, the AALBC Bestsellers List is now published quarterly. Here’s a printable list and collage of this period’s titles. Also check out the BLK Bestsellers—the definitive monthly guide to America’s bestselling books by Black writers.

Fiction: The Zora Neale Hurston Boxed Set was an AALBC bestseller even before its publication date. The 10-book boxed set features the best of Hurston’s fiction and nonfiction in one impressive package.

Nonfiction: Nikole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story was the #1 bestselling book across all genres this period. This does not include the many copies of the book sold as a result of our collaboration with Bookshop.org to support the New York based not-for-profit organization, The Literary Freedom Project.

Children’s Books: Born on the Water, which is also part of The 1619 Project was our top selling children’s book. Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith and written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, Born on the Water was one also of our most popular books of the year.

Poetry: Amanda Gorman’ Call Us What We Carry: Poems helps make Gorman one of AALBC’s all-time bestselling authors.