Building Belonging:
The Power of Black Deaf Children’s Books

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
— Frederick Douglass

Each year we participant in Black Children's Book Week founded by Veronica N. Chapman. Black Children’s Book Week is a global celebration of Black children and the people who ensure Black children are represented in books and other children’s media. The week is administered by Black Baby Books, a platform that makes it easier to discover children’s books with Black characters. It is typically held the last week of February and first week of March.

Voices that Move, Inspire, and Empower with Purpose“

We launched a new project entitled Melanin in Every Page: The Black Deaf Book Collective in 2025. The mission of Melanin In Every Page is to uplift the voices of Black Deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind, Deaf+, Deafdisabled, and late deafened communities in children’s literature and to envision a world where every child can see themselves reflected in the stories they read. The initiative is committed to creating books that preserve innocence, nurture confidence, and inspire belonging, while guiding and supporting families of all backgrounds, fostering understanding, celebrating identity, and affirming that inclusion belongs on every page.

The program trains Black Deaf and hearing community members on how to write children's book, supports the creation of that book with Black Deaf editors and illustrators, and publishes the books. We will publish 4 new books in 2026!

Black Deaf Character Children's Books

We actively research, discover, and share children's books featuring Black Deaf characters, written by both Black Deaf and hearing authors. For a more complete list see our Amazon Storefront.

Black Cultural Children's Books in
American Sign Language

The Deaf Black teachers at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont each year during Black History Month curate a list of Black cultural books to share through ASL story readings. We were given permission to share this great resource. Please see CSD Library on Youtube (@csdlibrary6920) for additional cultural books in ASL.