Looking for Black Santa children’s book recommendations?
If you’ve been following me for a while, you may know by now how passionate I am about talking about the importance of daily reading and having diversity in literature. Through years of reading and research on my own, along with my own firsthand experience being a parent of two children, I created this resource. For years, I’ve been collaborating with other talented Black women to create useful resources that I give away (or sometimes sell), to help people and pass on the knowledge I’ve learned. Since 2015, my ultimate goal has been to help parents, caregivers, grandparents, homeschoolers, librarians, and educators create a diverse library at home or school so they can teach the children in their lives about the importance of diversity, inclusion and the power of reading. I collaborated with a talented Black female illustrator, Elisa Summiel, to bring you this FREE resource for the holidays. Please support her and her work by checking out her website illustratedmelanin.com or following her on Instagram.
By downloading this “Black Santa Coloring Printable“, you can take your child’s reading and writing bedtime routine to the next level AND countdown the days until Christmas! Plus, you can have some fun along the way! This printable is for you if…
- You enjoy celebrating Christmas or Kwanzaa with your family
- You want to read children’s books that showcase a Black Santa
- You are a parent, caregiver or expecting parent and have a desire to start or enhance a reading habit/routine with your children
- You are an educator or librarian who wants to share this resource with your students and families for the holidays
- You have a desire to help children understand the importance of reading books (and writing)
- You want to have a fun way to countdown the days until Christmas with children
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you have a goal to diversify your bookshelves:
1. Start with a small subset of books if you have to, but just start. It’s okay if you start with a small, curated list of high quality books. If you can’t afford to purchase books all at once, borrow them from your local library or a discounted thrift store. Don’t worry about trying to check off all the boxes on this list at once. Curating a library takes time.
2. Keep going. Learning to embrace diversity and anti-racism is an ongoing lifelong commitment. Once you’ve started reading diverse books, one of the most important things to do is to make it a priority. Be sure to include diverse titles in your family’s ongoing reading year round. By doing this, you may find that your conversations will deepen over time and the connections between the books and your real life may grow organically. 3.
Let this be about you as much as it is about your kids or students. It’s great that parents and educators are now envisioning a more hopeful future for their children or students, but it’s important to also take this journey alongside them. Always remember, kids learn more from what we do than what we say. Be sure to invest any necessary time looking inward too. This may include diversifying your own bookshelf and expanding your immediate social circle. Relish in the journey together. Happy Reading!
Click HERE to download the printable for FREE!
You can find my other printable resources HERE. Thanks for your support! Shop my categorized book recommendations here and here. Follow me on Instagram!
Your turn: Do you find this resource to be useful and helpful? Feel free to share in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think of it! Also, feel free to SHARE this resource with others.
