Book and Bookish Gift Ideas from Small Businesses and Creators

In the spirit of cooperative economics, we’re spotlighting book and bookish gifts from independent creators and small businesses. There’s something for everyone, adults included!

And remember, when you shop small, you’re not just giving unique and meaningful gifts — you’re supporting talented creators and making a real difference in independent businesses. 

Here's our list:

King of Kindergarten Tonie based on the award-winning picture book by Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley-Newton 

I’m Still An Afro-Bets Kid sweatshirt

Shirts featuring the Afro-Bets Kids, who helped launch Just Us Books 36 years ago. (Available in kids and adults sizes)

Charlie Drew and His Missing Stethoscope

By Dr. David C. Miller, illustrated by Cameron Wilson - a picture book about an 11-year-old genius who attends Howard University Medical School as the youngest student in the United States in medical school.

Leverage Everything In Life journal 

Designed to help you map out your next big idea, organize daily tasks and everything in between.

Just Us Books pom pom beanie 

Sisters of the Sidewalk by Shadra Strickland

A digital print from Shadra's picture book Jump In. 

Good Books Make A Difference canvas tote

A stylish carrier for books and more.

On My Own: Vision Board Guidebook for Young People by Patrick Oliver guides young people through an interactive process that will help them with goal setting. 

Black Children’s Book Week tee

Celebrate the global event that spotlights Black children and their representation in children's books and other media. Plus: Save the date for the 2025: February 23 - March 1, 2025

Black Collection shirts 

A collab between Just Us Books and creative brand From the Xrt celebrating Black book publishing and some of the many people who make it possible. 

Good Books Make A Difference mug

Enjoy your favorite books with your favorite beverage.

Brave Enough to Be the Light

One thing we love about this time of year is the focus on community. If your social media feeds are anything like ours, it’s full of people asking about recommendations for Black owned businesses, local shops, and community organizations to support. As we navigate a challenging climate where more book are being banned, there’s increasing pushback on diversity, equity and inclusion, and people are preparing for what the new administration will bring in 2025, it’s encouraging to see so many people take action to ensure the work and institutions that we say are important can continue to operate and even thrive. 

We need that supportive community. So do our children.

During a recent Family Literacy Month event in Little Rock, author and Just Us Books co-founder Wade Hudson, asked students to come up front. He had a message for them.

"Each of you is blessed with a gift or gifts that you will use to make your unique contributions to the world,” he said. “Each of you is special. You must believe that. You must have faith in yourself. No matter what challenges may come, you can overcome them. You must overcome them. Our country and our world need you more than ever now.” 

While there may be lots of uncertainty, we know there’s so much power in community. And there may be no more crucial time than now to identify what we can do — individually and collectively— to support the people and causes that are most important to us and our future. 

As Amanda Gorman, the youngest Inaugural Poet in U.S. history reminds us:

“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Pushing Forward

We’re navigating a challenging time, but so many things keep us pushing forward. Among them are these words from Frederick Douglass:

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress…This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

The struggle for freedom and justice always continues. It does not rest on any one event, whether successful or not.

As kidlit creators, educators, librarians, parents, and supporters, let’s continue to use our gifts and talents to positively impact the lives of our young people. Our books make a difference. Our teaching makes a difference. Our example makes a difference. Our guidance, mentorship, the time we spend listening, supporting, pouring into — it’s all valuable and needed. Especially now. 

Let’s find meaning and purpose with others who know that we MUST continue. 

And when we need a reminder, may we find encouragement in each other and the young people who deserve our best.  

Banned Books Week

Book bans are on the rise. In classrooms and libraries across the nation, books such as We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, which we published to provide children comfort and encouragement during difficult times, are being called divisive and discriminatory. Since the fall of 2021, PEN America has counted more than 10,000 book bans in public schools alone. Books written about Black, LGBTQ and other marginalized groups are particularly impacted by these restrictions and censorship.

But we’re fighting back. Organizations, educators, librarians, bookstores, authors, illustrators and readers are working together to counteract book banning efforts. Here are a few ways you can join this important work:

1. Stay informed. Follow organizations such as the Banned Books Week Coalition, Pen America, Authors Against Book Bans or Kids Right to Read Project and participate in Banned Books Week activities to learn about the issue in community: https://bannedbooksweek.org/events/ 

2. Check out a challenged book (or two or three) from the library or buy banned/challenged books from your local bookstore. Many bookstores have banned book displays. You can also check this database for banned book lists.   

3. Speak out. Reading a banned book? Post about it on social media. Talk about the difference a book has made in your life. ALA also has free resources including posters and infographics, to help you champion the cause.

And remember, this advocacy isn’t limited to one week. We need to join together in frequent and consistent action to fight censorship, help keep books available in schools and libraries, and promote the freedom to read! 

Black Business Month

August is Black Business Month, founded in 2004 by Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton to acknowledge Black-owned businesses and their contributions to our economy. Black-owned businesses are a vital component of society — driving innovation, creating jobs, contributing to the community, and in the case of publishing — sharing and preserving important stories, history, and culture.

Just Us Books exists today because of the trail our ancestor entrepreneurs blazed before us, pioneers like John Brown Russwurm and Samuel Cornish, editors of Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned and operated newspaper in the U.S.; abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who published a volume of poetry (Forest Leaves) in 1845 at the age of 20; and WEB DuBois, who launched The Brownies Book, the first magazine created especially for Black children. And we remain in business today with YOUR support and that of many children, parents, educators, librarians, and readers of all ages who buy, read, and recommend our books — and have done so for 35 years. 

It’s fitting that Black Business Month takes place in August. This month is historically a slower time for book sales for many of us in publishing. That makes any purchases made during this period particularly impactful.

We’ve provided lists of Black publishing entrepreneurs for you to consider below. And of course Just Us Books would love to have your support as well. You can buy books or merch, like the shirts our founders are wearing in the photo below. 

However you choose to celebrate Black businesses, this month or any month, know that your support will make a big impact! And we appreciate it!

Pictured: Paul Coates (Black Classic Press), Cheryl Willis Hudson (Just Us Books), Ramunda and Derrick Young (Mahogany Books) at the 2019 Black Pack party, hosted by AALBC.com, Linda Duggins, One Book One Bronx, and Kwame Alexander.

Did you know there are (at least):

📖 195 Black-owned publishers, self-publishers and imprints

📚 162 Black-owned bookstores 

✍🏾 Over 10,727 Black authors and writers

📝 22 Black literary agents 

These are just some of the many creators and companies that make the world of Black book publishing so dynamic, valuable and inspiring. We encourage you to explore the lists linked above to learn more about these Black entrepreneurs. And if you’re looking for new ways to support, check out these tips: 5 Ways to Support Black-Owned Businesses 

Good Trouble

One of the most popular questions we get at speaking events, after “how do I get my book published” is: “what can I do to better support Just Us Books and diverse children’s books in general?”

We appreciate the question. It signals that people know they can help drive the change they want to see. At the 2024 Children’s Institute in New Orleans, I spoke to a group of people who are in a unique position to ensure these books are available: booksellers. But the spirit of my message applies to us all, and I’d like to share a few lines with you:

“I encourage all of you to be involved in helping to make sure books that can enrich, inform, uplift, inspire, sometimes rescue, and yes, entertain our youth in this too often challenging and difficult world are available to them."

It takes all of us: booksellers, parents, extended family members, educators, librarians, program directors, community members. Buy the books, borrow them from your library, ask for them at bookstores, share them with young people, push for them to be considered for school and summer reading lists, share them on social media and talk about them in person. We must all play a more active and intentional role in supporting diverse books and ensuring they are accessible.

Kudos to the American Booksellers Association for playing their part in this work. They made a concerted effort to ensure the Children’s Institute was more inclusive and that more BIPOC publishers and booksellers had platforms to be seen and heard, such as the Spotlight on Black Publishing panel, where Cheryl spoke. This year’s workshops and panels also tackled important issues we’re facing, including book banning, which has removed thousands of books — many by BIPOC and LGBTQ creators — from library shelves and school curricula.

During my talk at the Rep Picks Luncheon, I spoke about book banning and how we can fight back, quoting the great John Lewis’ call to make “good trouble.” A number of publishers and booksellers thanked me for my words. What’s clear is this work is about more than sales and profitability, although both are important to sustain any business. It’s about ensuring our children are represented and affirmed in the books they read and that they can see themselves in history, the present, and the future. I’m glad to see more of us are in for the good fight and I hope even more join.

Wade Hudson
CEO and Co-Founder
Just Us Books

Read more about the 2024 Children’s Institute in Publishers Weekly. 

Just Us Books to Host Writing Our Future: A Celebration of Black Children’s Literature

In honor of our milestone 35th anniversary and Black History Month, Just Us Books is proud to present a program that will bring together a dozen acclaimed Black children’s book authors and illustrators. 

Writing Our Future: A Celebration of Black Children’s Literature will be held Saturday, February 17, 2024, 12 - 2:30 pm at the Montclair Public Library, 50 South Fullerton Ave. in Montclair. It will also be streamed online.

Sponsored in collaboration with the Montclair Public Library and local independent bookstore Watchung Booksellers, the event will feature panels, book readings, autograph signings and literary performances. 

Guest authors and illustrators include: Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer), Valerie Wilson Wesley (Willimena Rules series), Denise Lewis Patrick (Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson), Sharon Dennis Wyeth (Something Beautiful), Eric Velasquez (Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library), Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (Operation Sisterhood); Torrey Maldonado (What Lane?), George Ford (The Story of Ruby Bridges), author-illustrator-educator Toney Jackson who will deliver a spoken word performance, as well as authors and Just Us Books founders, Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson.

“Books play such an important role in preserving and sharing Black history and culture. We can’t think of a better way to commemorate Just Us Books’ 35 years in publishing than by bringing together a talented group of authors and illustrators for a Black History Month literary celebration,” said Wade Hudson, CEO of Just Us Books.

“We’re hoping to reach the entire community with this event,” explains Cheryl Willis Hudson, Editorial Director of Just Us Books. “It’s a great opportunity for children to meet published authors and illustrators; for aspiring creators to learn about building careers in publishing; and for parents, educators and readers of all ages to get some wonderful books.”

Panels include:

·       Our Literature’s Legacy, a conversation about the path to more diversity in children’s publishing and how we continue the progress

·       Putting it All Together: Creating Books for Young Readers about the author and illustrator creative process, developing your craft, and how to break into and succeed in the industry

·       The Power of the Pen highlighting the power of children’s literature to inspire change

The event is free and open to the public, including children of all ages. 

Registration is encouraged for in-person attendance: https://montclairlibrary.libnet.info/event/9975696 and is required for virtual attendance: https://montclairlibrary.libnet.info/event/10147473 

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