Books for biracial and multiracial kids and their families

Good books for biracial and multiracial kids show a child who is whole, not half of anything: curls from one side, a grandmother's recipes from the other, and a family that looks like theirs. The list below is sorted by age, every title is verified in a library catalog, and several come from award lists that favor creators writing from experience. After the list there are a few ways to help your child see both sides of the family on paper.

Why it is worth starting early

Mixed families are a big and fast-growing part of the country. The 2020 Census counted 33.8 million people who reported more than one race, up from 9 million in 2010, partly because the questions themselves improved. Children's books have been slower to catch up, so a good one is worth hunting down.

Kids also notice sooner than adults expect. HealthyChildren.org, the American Academy of Pediatrics' parenting site, says a baby's brain can notice race-based differences as early as 6 months, and that by ages 2 to 4 children can internalize racial bias. A picture book that says "families like yours are normal and wonderful" is an easy way to get there first.

We skipped books already on our other guides, including Hair Love, The Colors of Us and All the Colors We Are (see diverse coloring books) and Drawn Together (see grandmother books from every culture).

For toddlers and preschoolers (ages 2 to 5)

Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung. Red, Yellow and Blue each think their color is best and live apart, until Yellow and Blue meet, fall in love and decide to mix. A simple metaphor a three-year-old can follow, and it ends with paint. Have crayons ready.

Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs. In rhyming text, Mike is a mixed-race boy, completely comfortable with his identity and his parents, and his wild, curly hair. Bouncy and confident.

Black, White, Just Right! by Marguerite W. Davol. A girl explains how her parents are different in color, tastes in art and food, and pet preferences, and how she is different too, but just right. An older book that still reads well aloud.

Gracias / Thanks by Pat Mora, illustrated by John Parra. A young multiracial boy tells about the everyday things he is thankful for: family, friends and fun. Parra's art earned a Pura Belpré honor.

For ages 4 to 8

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios. Marisol is a biracial, nonconformist, soccer-playing pirate-princess with brown skin and red hair who refuses to pick just one of anything. Bilingual, funny, and a Belpré honor book for illustration.

Nana, Nenek & Nina by Liza Ferneyhough. Nina's visits to her two faraway grandmothers, one in Malaysia and one in England, unfold side by side on facing pages. An APALA picture book honor. If your kids have grandparents in two countries, start here.

The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung, illustrated by Hanna Cha. A mother tells her child about two forests with different but equally enchanting dragons that live within the child's heart, one from Eastern and one from Western mythology. APALA chose it as its picture book winner and described its path toward exploring identity and the boy's own mixed cultural heritage.

Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López. Inspired by Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, who drummed in Cuba when only boys were allowed to drum. APALA's honor citation describes her as a Chinese-African-Cuban girl, and the book also won the Pura Belpré Medal for illustration.

The Case for Loving by Selina Alko. The true story of an interracial couple who married in Washington, D.C., were arrested after they returned to Virginia, and took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Best for 6 and up, and a good answer to "could Mom and Dad always get married?"

Quick guide by age

Age	Start with	Why
2 to 3	Mixed: A Colorful Story	Colors mixing is a story a toddler gets
3 to 5	Mixed Me!, Gracias / Thanks and the Davol book above	A confident mixed kid at the center
5 to 8	Marisol McDonald, Nana, Nenek & Nina, The Truth About Dragons, Drum Dream Girl	Two heritages, held together
6 and up	The Case for Loving	Real history, for real questions

All of these are in the Seattle Public Library catalog, so your own library can very likely borrow them. Read one that matches your family closely and one that does not: a Black and white family can still love Nana, Nenek & Nina, and the point lands either way. Kids from mixed families also like hearing that the question "what are you?" has more than one good answer, and that they get to choose theirs.

Put both sides of the family on paper

• A two-sided family tree. Draw a tree with two big roots and write one side of the family on each. Our family tree for kids guide has templates.
• Two grandmothers, side by side. Copy Nana, Nenek & Nina: fold a page in half and draw one grandparent's kitchen on each side.
• Get the colors right. Give your child a real range of skin tone crayons and let them choose for themselves and each parent. Our guide to skin tone crayons compares the sets.
• Trace a real photo. Hair texture is where generic coloring books go wrong. Tracing a clear photo of your child keeps their actual curls on the page. See how photo coloring books handle hair and skin.

My own kids come back to the pages that show them, and for a mixed kid that means pages where the hair, the skin and both sides of the family actually look right. Colorkin makes coloring storybooks from your photos, drafted with AI illustration tools and finished by a person who checks every page for likeness.

More books and pages for families of every background are in our family and heritage guides.

Questions parents ask