#Ownvoices or #Livedexperience author or illustrator books recommendations:
Check out the SCBWI Arizona Curated EI Book List
Picture Books
– Yang Warriors – Author Kao Kalia Yang, Illustrator Billy Thao, published by University of Minnesota Press, 2021
– Home is in Between – Author Mitali Perkins, Illustrator Lavanya Naidu, published by FSG Macmillan, 2021
– I Dream of POPO – Author Livia Blackburne, Illustrator Julia Kuo, published by Roaring Brook Press, 2021
– Your Mama – Author NoNieqa Ramos, Illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara, published by Versify Books, 2021
– Sugar in Milk – Author Thrity Umrigar, Illustrator Khoa Le, published by Running Press Kids, 2020
– A Place Inside of Me A Poem to Heal The Heart – Author Zetta Elliot, Illustrator Now Denmon, published by FSG Macmillan, 2020
– The most beautiful thing – Author Kao Kalia Yang, Illustrator Khoa Le, published by Carolhoda Books, 2020
– The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story – Author & Illustrator Thao Lam, published by Owlkids Books, 2020
– Saturdays are for Stella – Author Candy Wellins, Illustrator Charlie Eve Ryan, published by Page Street Kids, 2020
– We Are Water Protectors – Author Carole Lindstrom, Illustrator Michaela Goade, published by Roaring Brook Press, 2020
– I Talk Like a River – Author Jordan Scott, Illustrator Sydney Smith, published by Neal Porter Books, 2020
– We Are Water Protectors – Author Carole Lindstrom, Illustrator Michaela Goade, published by Roaring Brook Press, 2020
– Just Like Me – Author & Illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton, published by Penguin Random House, 2020
– A New Kind of Wild – Author & Illustrator Zara Gonzalez Hoang, Zara Gonzalez Hoang, published by Penguin Random House, 2020
– Lillybelle, A Damsel Not in Distress – Author Joana Pastro, Illustrator Jhon Ortiz, published by Boyds Mills & Kane, 2020
– Bling Blaine – Author Rob Sanders Illustrator Letizia Rizzo, published by Sterling Publishing, 2020
– Two Bicycles in Beijing – Author Teresa Robeson, Illustrator Junyi Wu, published by Albert Whitman, 2020
– Speak Up – Author Miranda Paul Illustrator Ebony Glenn, published by HMH, 2020
– You Matter – Author & Illustrator Christian Robinson, published by Simon & Schuster, 2020
– Lift – Author Minh Le, Illustrator Dan Santat, published by Little Brown and Company, 2020
– Grandpa Grumps – Author Katrina Moore, Illustrator Xindi Yan, published by Simon & Schuster, 2020
– All Because You Matter – Author Tami Charles, Illustrator Bryan Collier, published by Orchard Books, 2020
– Ohana Means Family – Author by Ilima Loomis, Illustrator Kenard Pak, published by Neal Porter Books, 2020
– Your Name is a Song – Author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Illustrator Luisa Uribe, published by The Innovation Press, 2020
– The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read – Author Rita Lorraine Hubbard, Illustrator Oge, Mora published by Schwartz & Wade, 2020
– Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History – Author & Illustrator Vashti Harrison, published by Little Brown and Company, 2019
– Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom – Author Teresa Robeson, Illustrator Rebecca Huang, published by Sterling Children’s Books, 2019
– The Undefeated – Author Kwame Alexander, Illustrator Kadir Nelson, published by Versify, 2019
– The Day you Begin – Author Jacqueline Woodson, Illustrator Rafael Lopez, published by Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019
– Dancing Hands – Author Margarita Engle, Illustrator Rafael Lopez, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019
– Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre – Author Anika Aldamuy Denise, Illustrator Paola Escobar published by HarperCollins, 2019
– A Map into the World – Author Kao Kalia Yang, Illustrator Seo Kim published by Carolrhoda Books, 2019
– Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution – Author Rob Sanders, Illustrator Jamey Christoph, published by Random House Books for Young Readers, 2019
– Alma and how she got her name – Author & Illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal, published by Candlewick Press, 2019
– Dreamers – Author & Illustrator Yuyi Morales, published by Neal Porter Books, 2018
– Thank you Omu! – Author & Illustrator Oge Mora published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018
– Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History – Author & Illustrator Vashti Harrison, published by Little Brown and Company, 2017
– A Different Pond – Author Bao Phi, Illustrator Thi Bui, published by Capstone Young Readers, 2017
– The Little Bit Scary People – Author Emily Jenkins, Illustrator Alexandra Boiger, published by Hyperion Book CH, 2008
Chapter Books
– Stella Diaz has Something to Say – Author & illustrator Angela Dominguez, published by Square Fish, 2019
– Juana and Lucas Big Problemas – Author & illustrator Juana Medina, published by Candlewick, 2019
Middle-Grade Books
– Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, published by Heartdrum, 2021
– Show Me a Sign – Author Ann Clare LeZotte, published by Scholastic Press, 2020
– Lupe Wong Won’t Dance – AuthorDonna Barba Higuera, published by Levine Querido, 2020
– Efren Divided – Author Ernesto Cisneros, published by HarperCollins, 2020
– Midsummer’s Mayhem – Author Rajani LaRocca, published by Simon & Schuster, 2019
– The Last Last-Day-of-Summer – Author Lamar Giles, Dapo Adeola, published by HMH, 2019
– Merci Suarez Changes Gears – Author Meg Medina, published by Candlewick, 2019
– Other Words for Home – Author Jasmine Warga, published by HarperCollins, 2019
– The Serpent’s Secret – Author Sayantani DasGupta, published by Scholastic, 2018
– The Jumbies – Author Tracey Baptiste, published by Scholastic, 2015
– The Red Pencil – Author Andrea Pinkney Davis, Illustrator Shane W. Evans, published by Little, Brown and Company, 2014
– A Long Walk To Water – Based on a true story by Linda Sue Park, published by HMH Books for Young Readers, 2011
Graphic Novels
– When Stars Are Scattered – Author & Illustrator Victoria Jamieson, Author Omar Mohamed, Illustrator Iman Geddy, published by Dial Books, 2020
– Class Act – Author & Illustrator Jerry Craft, published by Harper – Quill Tree Books, 2020
– Cicada – Author & Illustrator Shaun Tan, published by Arthur A. Levine Books, 2019
– New Kid – Author & Illustrator Jerry Craft, published by Harper – Quill Tree Books, 2019
– Guts – Author & Illustrator Raina Telgemeier, published by Scholastic, 2019
– The Crossover – Author Kwame Alexander, Illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, published by Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt, 2019
– The Dam Keeper – Author Robert Kondo, Illustrator Dice Tsutsumi, published by First Second, 2017
– This One Summer – Author Jillian Tamaki, Illustrator Mariko Tamaki, published by First Second, 2014
– El Deafo – Author & Illustrator Cece Bell, published by Abrams, 2014
– Daytripper – Author & Illustrator Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá, published by DC Comics, 2011
– The Arrival – Author & Illustrator Shaun Tan, published by Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007 [wordless book for ages 12 and up]
Young Adult Books
– The Henna Wars – Author Adiba Jaigirdar, published by Page Street Kids, 2020
– Cicada -Author Shaun Tan, published by Arthur A. Levine Books, 2019
– This Book is Not Yet Rated – Author Peter Bognanni, published by Penguin Random House, 2019
– Dread Nation: Rise Up (Dread Nation #1) – Author Justina Ireland, published by Balzer and Bray, 2018
– The Bone Witch – Author Rin Chupeco, published by Sourcebooks, 2018
– Beasts Made of Night – Author Tochi Onyebuchi, published by Penguin Random House, 2017
– The Lines We Cross – Author Randa Abdel-Fattah, published by Scholastic, 2017
– Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass – Author Meg Medina, published by Penguin Random House, 2014
– The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind – Author Meg Medina, published by Penguin Random House, 2013
Nonfiction Books
– A Sporting Chance: How Paralympics Founder Ludwig Guttmann Saved Lives with Sports – Author Lori Alexander, Illustrator Allan Drummond, published by HMH Books for Young Readers, 2020
Last Updated: June 3, 2021