30 Children's Books about Standing Up and Making Change

Helping children to explore ways to stand up for their convictions and why doing so is important is represented in this list of recent books. 

1. Abouraya, Karen Leggett. (2012). Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt's Treasured Books. Illustrated by  Susan L. Roth. New York: Dial.

2. Burleigh, Robert. (2013). Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer. Illustrated by Raul Colon. New York: Simon & Schuster.

3. Chin-Lee, Cynthia. (2005). Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World. Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing. 
4. Chin-Lee, Cynthia. (2006). Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World. Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing. 



from We March

5. Evans, Shane W. (2012). We March. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
6. Gandhi, Arun & Bethany Hegedus. (2014). Grandfather Gandhi. Illustrated by Evan Turk. New York: Atheneum Books.
7. Giovanni, Nikki. (2007). Rosa. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York: Square Fish.
8. Hopkins H. Joseph. (2013). The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever. Illustrated by Jill McElmurry. New York: Beach Lane Books.
9. Innosanto, Nagara. (2013). A is for Activist. New York: Triangle Square.

   

   from Red Kite, Blue Kite

10. Jang, Ji-li. (2013). Red Kite, Blue Kite. Illustrated by Greg Ruth. New York: Hyperion.
11. Lewis, J. Patrick. (2012). When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. Illustrated by  Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra and Meilo So. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
12. Markel, Michelle. (2013). Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909.  Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. New York: Balzer & Bray.



from When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders

13. Maier, Paul L. (2004). Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World. Concordia Publishing.
14. Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. (2013). Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table. Illustrated by Eric Shabazz Larkin. Readers to Eaters.
15. McGinty, Alice B. (2013). Gandhi: The March to the Sea. Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez. New York: Amazon.
16. Nelson, Kadir. (2013). Nelson Mandela. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.                     






17. Pinkney, Andrea. (2012). Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. New York: Hyperion.
18. Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2010). Sit In How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down.  Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
19. Shabazz, Ilyasah. (2014). Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X. Illustrated by A.G. Ford. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

    

    from The Composition.

20. Shaw, Maura D. and Robert Coles. (2002). Ten Amazing People: And How They Changed the World. Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi. Woodstock, VT: Skylight Paths Publishing. 
21. Skarmeta, Antonio. (2003).The Composition. Illustrated by Alfonso Ruano. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
22. Tafolla, Carmen & Sharyll Teneyuca. (2008). That's Not Fair/No Es Justo! Emma Tenayuca's Struggle  for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia. Illustrated by Terry Ybanez. San Antonio, TX: Wings Press.



from Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation.

23. Tonatiuh, Duncan. (2014). Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
24. Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2007). Freedom on the Menu: the Greensboro Sit-Ins.  Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue. New York: Puffin.



from Mumbet's Declaration of Independence.

25. Wiles, Deborah. (2005). Freedom Summer. Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue. New York: Aladdin.
26. Woelfle, Gretchen. (2014). Mumbet's Declaration of Independence. Illustrated by Alix Delinis. Carolrhoda Books.
27. Woodson, Jacqueline. (2012). Each Kindness. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.
28. Tamasaki, Katie. (2013). Fish for Jimmy: Inspired by One Family's Experience in an American Interment Camp. New York: Holiday House.
29. Zalben, Jane Breskin. (2006). Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World.  New York: Dutton Books.
30. Zhang, Ange. (2004). Red Land Yellow River: A Story from the Cultural Revolution. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.