Mother’s Day has become more complicated the older I get. There are so many different types of mother’s and mothering situations and the hope is that your children or the children in your lives are able to find themselves represented in their picture books. Here is a SMALL slice of beautiful picture books with Black Girl Magic for Mother’s Day. I also have additional books featuring different ethnicities and cultures in my Amazon Shop! For a handy list of books to take to the library, please feel free to download the picture at the end of this post!!!
Welcome to the Party by Gabrielle Union
This is really the perfect book for a baby shower gift. Mom, dad and family welcome a new little bundle of joy to life. Things aren’t perfect, moms hair is out of place, she chills in sweats, and often falls asleep, but she has so much love for this new tiny human. I love this one because the illustrations are just so real and I’m drawn to the neutral clothes baby is wearing. I love pink but seeing baby wear browns and tans was refreshing.
Saturday by Oge Mora
Working mom and her daughter have big plans for Saturday, which is their one day a week to have fun. When things don’t go as planned can they find a way to turn it around? This one is so very popular, you don’t want to miss this!
Dreams for a Daughter by Carole Boston Weatherford
A beautiful love letter from a mother to a daughter. A lot of family centered books can be very specific and can be isolating to children that don’t fit on of those specific structures. This book affirms and speaks directly from Mother to daughter and allows everyone to see themselves because we all want amazing things for our daughters.
Freedom, We Sing by Amyra Leon
This illustrations in this book are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. A mother and her child inhale and exhale together and ponder what is freedom. Mother’s from all walks of life and all levels of freedom come together to discover what it could be.
What is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack
A newly widowed mother and her son come together and learn how to give and love again. I featured this one for Valentine’s because it takes place in February, but it’s also a tribute to a mother who continues to give out of her lack. This one is so heartfelt, you need tissues.
Brown Sugar Babe by Charlotte Watson Sherman
Hello Melanin! The whole book is just dripping with beautiful golden shades of brown. A mother affirms her child and the beauty of their skin, and all the wonderful things that brown can be. Brown is dusk, brown is loud like an instrument, brown is an after-bedtime-story kiss goodnight. Brown lasts forever.
Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah-Thompkins-Bigelow
Muslim children’s book author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow makes beautiful windows into her culture and the beauty of wearing a Khimar or Hijab. A little one dances sways and plays with the fabric of her mother’s Khimar, and feels immense pride when she is able to wear one herself. A rights of passage in the Muslim community.
Who Will You Be? by Andrea Pippins
I love Andrea Pippins’ illustrations so no wonder a full book with her words and illustrations would give me all the feels. A mother wonders who her child will be, through the lens of a big beautiful Black family. Sweet and heartfelt!
A sweet and very real story about a mother who comes home and is just too tired to mom. So many of us can relate to that. She tells her daughter she can be mom tonight, but in the end, no matter how tired moms are they still can’t help themselves and mother their babies. I appreciate that illustrator Zoe Persico has drawn mom as a beautiful plus sized woman.
Red Light, Green Light, Mommy and Me by Cari Best
Mom works IN A LIBRARY, I love it! A little girl follows mom, on the train, gets breakfast and spends the whole day shadowing her mom and her co-workers at the local library. So much fun!
Gorgeous illustrations, poetic verse and red boots. This picture book follows a sweet girl and her mother as they eat, get dressed and walk in the rain. It’s a simple day but it’s the kind of rhythm that makes memories.
Mommy Sayang by Rosana Sullivan
Aleeya, a Malaysian girl, and her mother do everything together until one day Mommy gets sick. With sweetness and hope little Aleeya finds a way to always be by mommy’s side. Sayang is the Indonesian word for dear.
Just Like a Mama by Alice Faye Duncan
Carol Olivia Clementine longs for her parents and home but for the time being she lives with Mama Rose. Mama Rose is loving, but firm. A sweet tale of foster mothers, and learning to embrace the love that is around you.
A Night Out With Mama by Quvenzhane Wallis
Follow Academy Award nominee Quvenzhane Wallis as she gets dressed up for the Oscars and attends. I love that we get to see mother and daughter getting pampered and spending a night out on the town. I just have to point out that this is a beautiful example of Black joy! We have books about tired mama, and working mama, and so many stories of slavery, civil rights and sacrificing mama, these are important. We don’t get to see beautiful dressed up having fun mama often enough though.
