Children's books and activities

Family and Community

Do you know any kids who are curious about their family history and genealogy? Or kids who want to help build a better world through volunteering in their community? We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about families, communities, and civic engagement.

Check out our new 2020 resource: Our Democracy, where kids can explore our government, voting and voting rights, and active citizenship through books and activities.  

Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as families and communities. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

Boy riding older man's shoulders.

Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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""

A Chair for My Mother

By:
Vera Williams

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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A Is for Activist

By:
Innosanto Nagara

Age Level: 3-6 years old

A Neighborhood Walk, A Musical Journey book cover

A Neighborhood Walk, a Musical Journey

By:
Pilar Winter Hill
Illustrated by: Olivia Duchess

Age Level: 3-6 years old

All Are Welcome

By:
Alexandra Penfold
Illustrated by: Suzanne Kaufman

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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All Kinds of Families

By:
Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrated by: Marc Boutavant

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Another Brother

By:
Matthew Cordell
Illustrated by: Matthew Cordell

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Anywhere Farm

By:
Phyllis Root
Illustrated by: G. Brian Karas

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Apple Pie Fourth of July

By:
Janet Wong
Illustrated by: Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Are You My Mother?

By:
P.D. Eastman

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Around the Table That Grandad Built

By:
Melanie Heuiser Hill
Illustrated by: Jaime Kim

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic

By:
Ginnie Lo
Illustrated by: Beth Lo

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Bee-Bim Bop!

By:
Linda Sue Park
Illustrated by: Ho Baek Lee

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Big Frank's Fire Truck

By:
Leslie McGuire
Illustrated by: Joe Mathieu

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Bigmama's

By:
Donald Crews

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Black Is Brown Is Tan

By:
Arnold Adoff
Illustrated by: Emily Arnold McCully

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Blackout

By:
John Rocco

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Building Our House

By:
Jonathan Bean

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Cherry Pies and Lullabies

By:
Lynn Reiser

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Chicken Sunday

By:
Patricia Polacco

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do

By:
Katherine Heling
, Deborah Hembrook
Illustrated by: Andy Davies

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Common Threads: Adam's Day at the Market

By:
Huda Essa
Illustrated by: Mercè Tous

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Counting on Community

By:
Innosanto Nagara

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Delivering Your Mail

By:
Ann Owen
Illustrated by: Eric Thomas

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Families

By:
Sheila M. Kelly
, Shelley Rotner

Age Level: 3-6 years old

From My Window

By:
Otavio Júnior
Illustrated by: Vanina Starkoff

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Green Green: A Community Gardening Story

By:
Marie Lamba
, Baldev Lambda
Illustrated by: Sonia Sanchez

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Helpers in Your Neighborhood

By:
Shira Evans

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Home, Sweet Home: What Makes a House a Home?

By:
Moira Butterfield
Illustrated by: Clair Rossiter

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

How Far Do You Love Me?

By:
Lulu Delacre
Illustrated by: Lulu Delacre

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

How to Babysit a Grandpa

By:
Jean Reagan
Illustrated by: Lee Wildish

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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I Love Saturdays y domingos

By:
Alma Flor Ada
Illustrated by: Elvia Savidier

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

I Pledge Allegiance

By:
Pat Mora
Illustrated by: Libby Martinez

Age Level: 3-6 years old

I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness

By:
Kerascoët Kerascoët

Age Level: 3-6 years old

It Takes a Village

By:
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Illustrated by: Marla Frazee

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Just the Two of Us

By:
Will Smith
Illustrated by: Kadir Nelson

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea

By:
Meena Harris
Illustrated by: Ana Ramírez González

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Last Stop on Market Street

By:
Matt de la Peña
Illustrated by: Christian Robinson

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Let's Get a Pup! Said Kate

By:
Bob Graham

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Look Where We Live!: A First Book of Community Building

By:
Scot Ritchie

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Maybe Something Beautiful

By:
F. Isabel Campoy
, Theresa Howell
Illustrated by: Rafael López]

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile

By:
Gloria Houston
Illustrated by: Susan Condie Lamb

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Mr. Griggs' Work

By:
Cynthia Rylant
Illustrated by: Julie Downing

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Music, Music for Everyone

By:
Vera Williams

Age Level: 3-6 years old

On Meadowview Street

By:
Henry Cole

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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On the Road

By:
Susan Steggall

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

One World, One Day

By:
Barbara Kerley

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Pie Is for Sharing

By:
Stephanie Parsley Ledyard
Illustrated by: Jason Chin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Plant a Little Seed

By:
Bonnie Christensen

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Rainbow Stew

By:
Cathryn Fallwell

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy Town

By:
Richard Scarry

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Room for Everyone

By:
Naaz Khan
Illustrated by: Mercè López

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Ruby's Birds

By:
Mya Thompson
Illustrated by: Claudia Dávila

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Strega Nona's Harvest

By:
Tomie DePaola

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Sun

By:
Sam Usher

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Book cover for Thank You, Omu!

Thank You, Omu!

By:
Oge Mora

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Thanking the Moon

By:
Grace Lin
Illustrated by: Grace Lin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

The Curious Garden

By:
Peter Brown

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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The Forever Garden

By:
Laurel Snyder
Illustrated by: Samantha Cotterill

Age Level: 3-6 years old

The Name Jar

By:
Yangsook Choi

Age Level: 3-6 years old

The Park Our Town Built

By:
Diane Gonzales Bertrand
Illustrated by: Tanja Bauerle

Age Level: 3-6 years old

The Power of One: Every Act of Kindness Counts

By:
Trudy Ludwig
Illustrated by: Mike Curato

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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The Village Garage

By:
G. Brian Karas

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems

By:
Kristine George
Illustrated by: Kate Kiesler

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Tomás and the Library Lady

By:
Pat Mora
Illustrated by: Raul Colón

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Uptown

By:
Bryan Collier

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Water in the Park

By:
Emily Jenkins
Illustrated by: Stephanie Graegin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Watercress

By:
Andrea Wang
Illustrated by: Jason Chin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

By:
Traci Sorell
Illustrated by: Frané Lessac

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past

By:
Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Diane Greenseid

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

We March

By:
Shane Evans

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Willie and Uncle Bill

By:
Amy Schwartz
Illustrated by: Amy Schwartz

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Wolf in the Snow

By:
Matthew Cordell

Age Level: 3-6 years old

You Matter

By:
Christian Robinson

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl

By:
Rina Singh
Illustrated by: Marianne Ferrer

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

A City Through Time

By:
Philip Steele
Illustrated by: Steve Noon

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

A Country Far Away

By:
Nigel Grey
Illustrated by: Dupasquier Philippe

Age Level: 6-9 years old

A Piece of Home

By:
Jeri Watts
Illustrated by: Hyewon Yum

Age Level: 6-9 years old

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart

By:
Zetta Elliot
Illustrated by: Noa Denmon

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Barrio: José's Neighborhood/Barrio: El barrio de José

By:
George Ancona

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Beatrice's Goat

By:
Page McBrier
Illustrated by: Lori Lohstoeter

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Big Papa and the Time Machine

By:
Daniel Bernstrom
Illustrated by: Shane Evans

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Black Is a Rainbow Color

By:
Angela Joy
Illustrated by: Ekua Holmes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Bronzeville Boys and Girls

By:
Gwendolyn Brooks
Illustrated by: Faith Ringgold

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Butterflies Belong Here: A Story of One Idea, Thirty Kids, and a World of Butterflies

By:
Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Celebrate Independence Day with Parades, Picnics, and Fireworks

By:
Deborah Heiligman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem

By:
Amanda Gorman
Illustrated by: Loren Long

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

City Green

By:
DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Crouching Tiger

By:
Ying Chang Compestine
Illustrated by: Yan Nascimbene

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

By:
Derrick Barnes
Illustrated by: Gordon C. James

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Dad and the Dinosaur

By:
Jennifer Choldenko
Illustrated by: Dan Santat

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Dear Mr. Rosenwald

By:
Carole Boston Weatherford

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Each Kindness

By:
Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed their World

By:
Allan Drummond

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Family Is a Superpower

By:
Michael Dahl
Illustrated by: Omar Lozano

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Family Pictures/Cuadros de familia

By:
Carmen Garza

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles

By:
Philippe Cousteau
, Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Freedom in Congo Square

By:
Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: R. Gregory Christie

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Giant Steps to Change the World

By:
Spike Lee
, Tonya Lewis Lee
Illustrated by: Sean Qualls

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Happy Birthday, America

By:
Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrated by: Peter Catalanotto

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Harlem

By:
Walter Dean Myers

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood

By:
Tony Hillery
Illustrated by: Jessie Hartland

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Helen’s Birds

By:
Sara Cassidy
Illustrated by: Sophie Casson

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community

By:
Susan Verde
Illustrated by: John Parra

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Home

By:
Jeannie Baker

Age Level: 6-9 years old

How to Make a Better World: For Every Kid Who Wants to Make a Difference

By:
Keilly Swift

Age Level: 6-9 years old

I Believe I Can

By:
Grace Byers
Illustrated by: Keturah A. Bobo

Age Level: 6-9 years old

I'm New Here

By:
Anne Sibley O'Brien

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

If America Were a Village: A Book About the People of the United States

By:
David Smith
Illustrated by: Shelagh Armstrong

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

If the Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House

By:
Jane O'Connor
Illustrated by: Gary Hovland

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

In My Family/En mi familia

By:
Carmen Garza

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen

By:
Debbi Michiko Florence
Illustrated by: Elizabet Vukovic

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Lend a Hand: Poems About Giving

By:
John Frank
Illustrated by: London Ladd

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Let the Children March

By:
Monica Clark-Robinson
Illustrated by: Frank Morrison

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Let's Talk About Race

By:
Julius Lester
Illustrated by: Karen Barbour

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Maddi's Fridge

By:
Lois Brandt
Illustrated by: Vin Vogel

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Mango, Abuela, and Me

By:
Meg MedinaAngela

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans

By:
Phil Bildner
Illustrated by: John Parra

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Me and My Family Tree

By:
Joan Sweeney
Illustrated by: Annette Cable

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School

By:
Janet Halfmann
Illustrated by: Landon Ladd

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children

By:
Jan Pinborough
Illustrated by: Debby Atwell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Miss Rumphius

By:
Barbara Cooney

Age Level: 6-9 years old

My Hair Is a Garden

By:
Cozbi A. Cabrera

Age Level: 6-9 years old

My Map Book

By:
Sara Fanelli

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Nadia's Hands

By:
Karen English
Illustrated by: Jonathan Weiner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

By:
Barack Obama
Illustrated by: Loren Long

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf

By:
Olivia Bouler

Age Level: 6-9 years old

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference

By:
Kate Smith Milway
Illustrated by: Eugenie Fernandes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Our Little Kitchen

By:
Jillian Tamaki

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Out and About at City Hall

By:
Nancy Garhan Attebury
Illustrated by: Zachary Le Trover

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World

By:
Allan Drummond

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott

By:
Dee Romito
Illustrated by: Laura Freeman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré

By:
Anika Aldamuy Denise
Illustrated by: Paola Escobar

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangara Maathai

By:
Claire Nivola

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Red, White, and Boom!

By:
Lee Wardlaw
Illustrated by: Huy Voun Lee

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel Book

By:
Nikki Grimes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Sam and the Lucky Money

By:
Karen Chinn
Illustrated by: Cornelius Van Wright

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Say Something

By:
Peter H. Reynolds

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Snail Mail

By:
Samantha Berger
Illustrated by: Julia Patton

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez

By:
Andrea Beaty
Illustrated by: David Roberts

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice

By:
Marianne Celano
Illustrated by: Jennifer Zivoin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Young Black girl who is blind listening for sounds in the busy city

Song in the City

By:
Daniel Bernstrom

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Stand Up! Speak Up!: A Story Inspired by the Climate Change Revolution

By:
Andrew Joyner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Start Now! You Can Make a Difference

By:
Chelsea Clinton

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee!

By:
Andrea J. Loney
Illustrated by: Keith Mallett

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Tar Beach

By:
Faith Ringgold

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers' Rights

By:
Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Kristy Caldwell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Birdwatchers

By:
Simon James

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Can Man

By:
Laura E. Williams
Illustrated by: Craig Orback

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Colors of Us

By:
Karen Katz

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams

By:
Tanya Lee Stone
Illustrated by: Kathryn Brown

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Tree Lady

By:
H. Joseph Hopkins
Illustrated by: Jill McElmurry

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Ugly Vegetables

By:
Grace Lin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

This Is How I Do It: One Day in the Life of You and 59 Real Kids from Around the World

By:
Matt Lamothe

Age Level: 6-9 years old

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration

By:
Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: James Ransome

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding

By:
Lenore Look
Illustrated by: Yumi Heo

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen

By:
Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Waiting for the Biblioburro

By:
Monica Brown
Illustrated by: John Parra

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City

By:
Deborah Hodge

Age Level: 6-9 years old

We Came to America

By:
Faith Ringgold

Age Level: 6-9 years old

What Can a Citizen Do?

By:
Dave Eggers
Illustrated by: Shawn Harris

Age Level: 6-9 years old

What Is Given from the Heart

By:
Patricia McKissack
Illustrated by: April Harrison

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Your Name Is a Song

By:
Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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101 Small Ways to Change the World

By:
Lonely Planet Kids
, Aubre Andrus

Age Level: 9-12 years old

31 Ways to Change the World

By:
We Are What We Do

Age Level: 9-12 years old

A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park

By:
Ashley Benham Yazdani

Age Level: 9-12 years old

cover of "Generation Fix" showing six teenagers, a lightbulb, and a tree

Generation Fix: Young Ideas for a Better World

By:
Elizabeth Rusch

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero

By:
Kelly J. Baptist

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Loretta Little Looks Back: Three Voices Go Tell It

By:
Andrea Pinkney
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!

By:
Marley Dias

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Murals: Walls That Sing

By:
George Ancona

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness

By:
Anastasia Higginbotham

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Seedfolks

By:
Paul Fleischman
Illustrated by: Judy Pedersen

Age Level: 9-12 years old

The Kid's Guide to Service Projects

By:
Barbara Lewis

Age Level: 9-12 years old

The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth

By:
Wade Hudson
, Cheryl Willis Hudson

Age Level: 9-12 years old

What Does a Mayor Do?

By:
David Jakubiak

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Wishtree

By:
Katherine Applegate

Age Level: 9-12 years old