Juneteenth commemorates the announcement in Texas in 1865 of the abolition of slavery—two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation—and honors the day that Black Americans gained their freedom.
Whether you’re looking for books to read with students or have children at home to read with, try these titles to learn more about the history of the holiday.
- Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
- What is Juneteenth? by Kirsti Jewel
- A Flag for Juneteenth by Kim Taylor
- The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story by Glenda Armand
- Juneteenth by Van G. Garrett
- Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
- Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle
- The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States by Alliah L. Agostini
- Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story Of The Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
- Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
- Juneteenth Jamboree by Carole Boston Weatherford
- All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson
- Juneteenth by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
- Hope’s Gift by Kelly Starling Lyons
- Free at Last! Stories and Songs of Emancipation by Doreen Rappaport
- Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation by Patrice Sherman
- Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States by Pat McKissack
- Freedom’s Gifts: a Juneteenth Story by Valerie Wilson Wesley
- Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty by Tonya Bolden
Want to check out a copy of one of these titles? Find them in this booklist through your local library on WorldCat.
