The best inclusive children’s books

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a feminist author, illustrator, and UX designer who thrives on projects that help to improve awareness, healing, and community around marginalized identities. When I became a mother, I realized the importance of teaching and educating children around inclusivity and empathy. When we allow children to open their minds and question stagnant culture, we set the stage for real and meaningful collective growth. I center my work around this goal and focus on inclusive themes, often from perspectives that are unexpected.


I wrote...

Feminism Is for Boys

By Elizabeth Rhodes,

Book cover of Feminism Is for Boys

What is my book about?

Boys can play sports with girls, wear dresses, cook, play with dolls, express emotions, be friends with all genders, and believe in equality. Feminism is not just about equal rights for all genders, but also about the pursuit to eradicate gendered stereotypes - allowing everyone to be their truly authentic selves. Boys are some of the most important allies in the movement for gender equality. Feminist boys should not be the exception, but the norm. Feminism is for everyone, including boys!

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Making a Baby

Elizabeth Rhodes Why did I love this book?

This inclusive guide to how every family begins is exactly the book I was looking for to help my daughter understand such important topics. Covering everything from sex, IVF, adoptions, surrogacy, vaginal birth, cesarian, miscarriage, and more. I believe starting these conversations young helps to build trust and confidence in the parent-child relationship. To make a baby you need one egg, one sperm, and one womb. 

By Rachel Greener, Clare Owen (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Making a Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

This inclusive guide to how every family begins is an honest, cheerful tool for conversations between parents and their young ones.

To make a baby you need one egg, one sperm, and one womb. But every family starts in its own special way. This book answers the "Where did I come from?" question no matter who the reader is and how their life began. From all different kinds of conception through pregnancy to the birth itself, this candid and cozy guide is just right for the first conversations that parents will have with their children about how babies are made.


Book cover of Bodies Are Cool

Elizabeth Rhodes Why did I love this book?

This cheerful love-your-body picture book gives parents a fun way to approach body positivity. Each spread has beautifully illustrated scenes with all types of bodies; harry bodies, wiggly bodies, every age bodies, brown skin bodies, all gendered bodies, and so much more! Watching my daughter delightfully point to one of the gorgeously curvy tummies with absolute love was everything I was hoping for.

By Tyler Feder,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bodies Are Cool as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

This cheerful love-your-body picture book for preschoolers is an exuberant read-aloud with bright and friendly illustrations to pore over.

From the acclaimed creator of Dancing at the Pity Party and Roaring Softly, this picture book is a pure celebration of all the different human bodies that exist in the world. Highlighting the various skin tones, body shapes, and hair types is just the beginning in this truly inclusive book. With its joyful illustrations and encouraging refrain, it will instill body acceptance and confidence in the youngest of readers. "My body, your body, every different kind of body! All of them…


Book cover of It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book about Gender Identity

Elizabeth Rhodes Why did I love this book?

Gender identity isn’t complicated, but adults tend to think it to be that way. With this book, Thorn does an amazing job at teaching us how simple it can and should be. This book and its bright illustrations helped me tremendously to teach my child the importance of not assuming gender or pronouns. This book gives scenarios of cisgender, transgender, non-binary, and more.

By Theresa Thorn, Noah Grigni (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked It Feels Good to Be Yourself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Some people are boys. Some people are girls. Some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between.

This sweet, straightforward exploration of gender identity will give children a fuller understanding of themselves and others. Written by the mother of a transgender child and illustrated by a non-binary transgender artist, It Feels Good to Be Yourself provides young readers and parents alike with the vocabulary to discuss this important topic with sensitivity.


Book cover of Antiracist Baby

Elizabeth Rhodes Why did I love this book?

The bedrock of inclusivity is understanding our part in systems of oppression. This introduction into actionable antiracist behavior is a must for any parent hoping to truly raise their child to be genuinely inclusive. The page-by-page rhyming helps to engage children, while the glossary in the back gives parents and caregivers real, meaningful discussion points.

By Ibram X. Kendi, Ashley Lukashevsky (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Antiracist Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Take your first steps with Antiracist Baby! Or rather, follow Antiracist Baby's nine easy steps for building a more equitable world.

With bold art and thoughtful yet playful text, Antiracist Baby introduces the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism. Providing the language necessary to begin critical conversations at the earliest age, Antiracist Baby is the perfect gift for readers of all ages dedicated to forming a just society.


Book cover of C is for Consent

Elizabeth Rhodes Why did I love this book?

Approaching the topic of body autonomy, this book tells the story of a boy who gets to choose what he does with his body, which in turn empowers him to respect the body autonomy of others. No more forcing hugs and kisses from friends and family members. When we give our children the tools and the respect to make decisions about their bodies, we allow the space for them to give that same respect to others. 

By Eleanor Morrison, Faye Orlove (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked C is for Consent as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

The book teaches that it is okay for kids to say no to hugs and kisses, and that what happens to a their body is up to them. This helps children grow up confident in their bodies, comfortable with expressing physical boundaries, and respectful of the boundaries of others. Full color.


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The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife

By Erica Silverman, Ginnie Hsu (illustrator),

Book cover of The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife

Erica Silverman Author Of Wake Up, City!

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning author of picture books and early readers. I have set my stories in many kinds of locations, including a haunted house, an Eastern European shtetl, an English Renaissance village, and a working cattle ranch. For Wake Up, City, I turned to the setting I know best, the city. I drew on memories of walking to kindergarten in early morning Brooklyn. This book is my love song to cities everywhere. As a lifelong city dweller, I worry about the impact of urban spread on the planet, but I feel hopeful, too, because many cities are becoming more nature and wildlife-friendly. The books I'm excited to share celebrate city wildlife. 

Erica's book list on celebrating cities

What is my book about?

A unique and artful blend of poetry, science, and activism, this picture book shows how city dwellers can intervene so that nature can work her magic.

In Oslo, Norway: citizens create a honeybee highway that stretches from one side of the city to the other, offering flowerpots, resting spots, bee boxes, and beehives—even water fountains—every eight hundred feet.

In the Bronx, New York: a community rallies to clean their river and cheers at the return of the long-lost beaver population.

In Busselton, Australia: people make a rope bridge that swings high above speeding cars, creating a safe path for tree-hopping possums and squirrels alike.

Through a mix of lyrical poems, real-life success stories, and bouquet-bright artwork, The City Sings Green explores the environmental impact of humans and showcases the many ways that we can rewild cities across the globe. Together, we can welcome nature back!

The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife

By Erica Silverman, Ginnie Hsu (illustrator),

What is this book about?

A unique and artful blend of poetry, science, and activism, this picture book shows how city dwellers can intervene so that nature can work her magic. Perfect for fans of The Curious Garden and Harlem Grown.

In Oslo, Norway: citizens create a honey-bee highway that stretches from one side of the city to the other, offering flowerpots, resting spots, bee boxes and beehives-even water fountains-every 800 feet.

In the Bronx, New York: a community rallies to clean their river and cheers at the return of the long-lost beaver population.

In Busselton, Australia: people make a rope bridge that swings high…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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