In an Age of Book Bans: Expanding Access to Critical Reviews of Children's Literature

While books continue to be banned and challenged at record rates, most people in the United States oppose censorship and instead seek quality literature for their children and students.

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- I rely on Social Justice Books to make sure that I am utilizing texts in my classroom that broaden the minds and hearts of my students. — Samantha Gutierrez-Rice, pre-service elementary teacher

Teaching for Change's Social Justice Books has moved to a new, user-friendly platform, providing more features for the thousands of teachers, librarians, and family members — like Samantha Gutierrez-Rice — who rely on Social Justice Books to find titles for pre-K to 12. While books continue to be banned and challenged at record rates, most people in the United States oppose censorship and instead seek quality literature for their children and students.

Social Justice Books helps people select pre-K to 12 titles by theme and reading level. They include new titles and classics. Every title on the site has been vetted by a staff member or a trusted ally. The book reviews are color coded and categorized as "green: recommended," "yellow: recommended with caveats," and, "red: not recommended."

Teaching for Change, a national non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., has consolidated hundreds of critical reviews of children's and young adult books on the Social Justice Books site, from dozens of trusted organizations. This saves people time searching multiple sites for reviews and ensures that the reviews have been vetted for reliability. Those trusted sites include: Africa Access, American Indians in Children's Literature, Brown Girl Bookshelf, Colorín Colorado, Cooperative Children's Book Center, Cotton Quilts, Densho, Disability in KidLit, DeColores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children, Hijabi Librarians, Islamic School Librarian, Latinxs in KidLit, Reading Is Resistance, The Kidlit Hoarder, and many more.

The critical reviews address common stereotypes such as placing Native Americans only in the past tense; an emphasis on individual heroes over collective action; and a predominance of wild animals rather than people in picture books about African countries.

One of the goals of Social Justice Books is to hold the publishing industry accountable. In this era of book bans, many children's book publishers quietly edit out references to racism, LGBTQ identity, sexism, housing discrimination, etc. They hope the omissions go unnoticed — marketing titles as "multicultural" with diverse characters — while omitting issues of power and equity. That self-censorship by publishers is exposed (and hopefully held in check) by the critical reviews at Social Justice Books.

In addition to educators and parents, representatives of national organizations regularly use Social Justice Books.

Lexie Neeley, program manager for the Little Free Library Read in Color program wrote,

Teaching for Change's Social Justice Books project has been a game-changer for Little Free Library's Read in Color program. Their thoughtful, nuanced book reviews help us share meaningful recommendations with our partners and the readers they serve to ensure our community members are receiving books that affirm, uplift, and educate truthfully about our beautifully diverse world.

William H. Rodick, P‑12 Practice Lead at EdTrust wrote,

Teaching for Change's Social Justice Books has been invaluable to EdTrust's work to provide resources that help the adults in children's lives think critically about how students engage with content and instruction. Their reviews empower parents and educators so they may be thoughtful about building upon student experiences and interests, covering a wide range of important themes relevant to students' lives, such as incarceration, immigration, and activism.

The new platform for Social Justice Books allows for greater filtering by reading level, format, and subject level for thousands of titles. More than 100 booklists address themes connected to the classroom curriculum and the interests of young people — everything from the Constitution and housing to dance, bicycles, and nature.

Teaching for Change's deputy director Keesha Ceran noted,

Our contribution to the national campaign to defend the freedom to read is making sure that it is easy for educators and families to find high quality literature. We shine a light on titles that creatively introduce young children to power, equity, and the full range of diversity.

SOURCE Teaching for Change