In this post: A round-up of Spanish children’s books that include diverse characters and celebrate diversity. Post contains affiliate links.
Sharing diverse children’s books in Spanish is a simple, meaningful way to teach kids language, empathy, and curiosity.
By building an inclusive home library, books can open conversations and act as windows for our children.
To help you get started raising the next generation of kind, culturally-aware humans, we’re sharing some of our favorite Spanish children’s books with diverse characters.
Table of Contents
Why Do We Need Diverse Books?
While progress has been made in the diversity of children’s books, many still don’t accurately reflect the children who read them.
The National Education Association shared that in 2015, children were more likely to see a talking truck or dinosaur than a Hispanic character in a picture book. Several years later, the stats show some progress, with over 12% featuring black characters, 9% featuring Asian characters, and over 6% featuring Hispanic characters.
Here are 3 reasons why it’s important to intentionally grow a diverse home library:
1. Diverse books can be mirrors.
All children need to see themselves represented in the books they read. We need to break down stereotypes by showing multiple facets of races, ethnicities and cultures.
We need to value diversity in fiction and non-fiction: studying historical books are important but children need to see children of color doing things they do. This dimension is key for eliminating implicit bias.
2. Diverse books can be windows
They allow children to relate with members of another group. Having diverse protagonists gives children the opportunity to see life through a different lens and normalizes differences.
3. Diverse books encourage discussion
By not discussing diversity with our children, we are in essence giving them the message that it’s a taboo topic or foreign concept.
Children as young as 3 months old start to prefer the race that matches their caregivers, according to the American Psychological Association. It’s never too early to start the discussion!
Related post: How to Read to Your Child in Spanish
Diverse Spanish Non Fiction Books
For kids who love learning about the real world, these inclusive books are all excellent options:
Aquí y allá
This Kane Miller book beautifully presents the lives of many different peoples including their food, schools, how they do chores and so much more. See it here.
Ver cómo la gente de otros países compra provisiones, va a la escuela, celebra y mucho más. Explora la increíble diversidad de personas y culturas que hay en nuestro planeta.
This is such a great title for seeing how cultures are different across the globe, from discovering how other people in the world go to school, to going to the grocery store and even how they celebrate traditions.
Di Algo
- Item #:NTS856596
- ISBN13:9781338565966
- Format:Spanish Paperback
- Pages:40
- Grades:K – 3
Di Algo is an empowering read by Peter H. Reynolds. It explores the many ways that a single voice can make a difference.
Every day we have opportunities to advocate, with our actions, our words, and our voices. Everybody has a voice and every voice is valued.
El color de tu piel
- Acevedo, Desirée (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 05/07/2024 (Publication Date) – Cuento de Luz (Publisher)
Vega loves drawing and is never without her colored pencils, proudly displaying her artwork on the family refrigerator. When a classmate asks to borrow a “skin-colored” pencil, Vega and her friend begin to question what that really means.
Through curiosity and creativity, they explore the many skin tones of the people around them. Along the way, they discover that skin color isn’t just one shade, but a beautiful spectrum of many.
Amigos del otro lado
- Anzaldua, Gloria (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 06/03/1997 (Publication Date) – Children’s Book Press (Publisher)
After crossing the Rio Grande into Texas with his mother, Joaquín finds friendship and protection in Prietita, a brave Mexican American girl. As Joaquín faces teasing and fear because of his immigrant status, Prietita stands up for him and tries to keep him and his mother safe from the Border Patrol.
Through their bond, the story reveals both the hardships of life at the border and the courage found in solidarity and compassion. This book honors the dignity, resilience, and shared humanity of border communities.
Todos estamos conectados
- Garcia, Gabi (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 34 Pages – 03/28/2022 (Publication Date) – Skinned Knee Publishing (Publisher)
A lyrical picture book that invites children to celebrate differences, stand up for one another, and work together to make the world a better place.
Through simple, powerful reminders about kindness, forgiveness, and empathy, it shows that we share more in common than we often realize. The story emphasizes that everyone loves, everyone struggles, and everyone belongs.
¡Sólo pregunta!
- Hardcover Book
- Sotomayor, Sonia (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 09/03/2019 (Publication Date) – Philomel Books (Publisher)
In this story, Sonia and her friends work together to plant a garden, each contributing in their own unique way. The children have different abilities and challenges, but they learn that everyone has strengths worth valuing.
Curious and respectful, they ask questions and get to know one another better as they collaborate. Written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and inspired by her own childhood, the book celebrates inclusion, curiosity, and the beauty of differences.
Diverse Spanish Fiction Books
We’ve been seeing a lot more diversity in picture books lately too. Check out some of these favorites:
Última parada de la calle Market
- Hardcover Book
- de la Peña, Matt (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 09/30/2025 (Publication Date) – G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers (Publisher)
Última parada de la calle Market could really be non-fiction. It’s a beautiful story of a grandma and her grandson who, every Sunday, take the bus home to Market Street.
But on this particular day the grandson, Jackson, has many questions about why he is treated differently to the others on the bus. Why doesn’t he get to have the same privileges? But his Grandma teaches him to see the beauty that is all around them.
Lola planta un jardin
- McQuinn, Anna (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 28 Pages – 03/14/2017 (Publication Date) – Charlesbridge (Publisher)
From the popular series about Lola, Lola planta un jardin is a great choice for garden lovers too. This is another great example of a black protagonist doing normal everyday things.
After Lola reads a book of garden poems, she decides she wants to plant some seeds. She gets books from the library and picks out the plants. Then Lola and her mommy prepare the soil and the gather all the supplies.
¿Por qué yo soy yo?
- Britt, Paige (Author)
- Spanish (Publication Language)
- 40 Pages – 12/26/2017 (Publication Date) – Scholastic en español (Publisher)
¿Por qué yo soy yo? is a beautiful celebration of diversity and is the perfect choice for building bridges of empathy. It tells the story of two children who are thinking and asking the very same questions, although they don’t realize it.
It conveys such an important message that this world needs connection, empathy and kindness.
Mi abuela y yo
Mi abuela y yo shows all the fun things Grandmas can do with their grandchildren. It even shows them communicating digitally via devices.
En todo el mundo, en todos los idiomas, en todos los países, lo que más les gusta a las abuelas es… ¡estar con sus nietos!
Related post: Supporting Biliteracy Through Elementary Spanish Stories
Llamitas Spanish Curriculum
At Llamitas Spanish, our curricula levels were developed with not only language proficiency in mind, but also an appreciation for diverse cultures within the Spanish-speaking community around the world.
Literature is just one of the ways that we help you to raise bilingual children through authentic, culturally-rich Spanish stories for kids.
Remember, allyship is a journey! We hope this post inspires you to grow your home library gradually, but intentionally.
Keep Reading! More Related Posts:
Spanish Books with Afro-Latino protagonists
Libros vivos: Living Books in Spanish
Founder of the Llamitas Spanish® Curriculum and former Spanish teacher. Corrie holds two Master Degrees in Spanish and Education. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband and two bilingual children.