As a child, one of the first things that made me realize we live in an unfair world was seeing people who were homeless. My 7 year old seems just as troubled by the problem of homelessness. Our usual routes to school and the grocery store take us past people who are sleeping under overpasses or asking for change near busy intersections. He often wonders where they go during their day and what they do in bad weather.

It’s important to me that my child not only understands that we can share our resources with people who are homeless.

I also want him to grasp the root causes of homelessness, especially a lack of affordable housing. I believe children are capable of understanding homelessness not just as a sad reality, but also as an unjust one that communities have the power to change.

In this post you’ll find 10 children’s books about housing and homelessness, as well as ideas for learning more and taking action with kids.

Disclosure: For your convenience, this post includes affiliate links. If you purchase items through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I received a review copy of Sanctuary from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler

In some ways, this picture book about a boy and his father living in an airport is a bit dated. But I’ve seen how the moving story captivated my son when he was younger. I appreciate how the story expresses hope without having an overly optimistic ending, and voices the many feelings the child has about how he wishes life could be.

The little boy and his father know all the things they have to do not to get caught living in the airport. One of the things they have to do is avoid hanging around other people who’ve secretly made the airport their home too. But they do rely on another family who also lives there, especially the father has to go to work in the city on the weekends. (Recommended for ages 5 – 8)

Action idea: If you want to engage your family in community service with an organization addressing homelessness, keep these do’s and don’ts for community service projects with kids in mind.

A Place to Stay: A Shelter Story by Erin Gunti and Estelí Meza

When a little girl and her mother arrive at a women’s shelter, the child is sure she doesn’t want to stay there. Her mother uses the power of imagination to transform the activity room of the shelter into a treasure cave. The squeaky bed becomes a rocket ship that can send her right to the stars. Her mother’s encouragement eventually allows the little girl to let down her guard a bit and get to know one of the other families at the shelter.

After the story, there are two pages of illustrated educational notes that help children understand the different reasons that people may be homeless, and how shelters can assist them. (Recommended for ages 3 – 7)

Action idea: Give to both service and justice projects that address homelessness

Children will think first of sharing items like food and blankets with people who are homeless. While you’re giving items or money to organizations like soup kitchens and shelters, consider also donating to groups that address the root injustices that cause homelessness.

One national organization that advocates for fair housing policies is the National Coalition for the Homeless. You can also look for local community organizing groups that are led by people who are currently or have been homeless, such as Picture the Homeless.

One last tip: when giving to direct service organizations like shelters and soup kitchens, find out a little more about what rules they have for guests. For example, I won’t give to two of the largest homeless shelters in my community because both require people staying their to attend religious services. Instead we give to smaller, local groups that treat homeless guests with dignity and respect.

Related Post: How to talk to children about poverty

On Our Street: A First Talk about Poverty by Jilliam Roberts and Jaime Casap

This is a straight-forward non-fiction children’s book about poverty for the youngest readers. It focuses primarily on homelessness, although there are additional sections on refugees and global poverty.

I like the way the book focuses on questions that young children are likely to have about poverty, its compassionate perspective, and its use of real photographs. However, I wish that it spoke more about systemic issues such as low-wage jobs and affordable housing. I recommend that adults add in some additional questions and perspectives that I highlight in this post on talking with children about poverty.

Sanctuary: Kip Tiernan and Rosie’s Place, the Nation’s First Shelter for Women by Christine McDonnell and Victoria Tentler-Krylov

This true story of how the first shelter for homeless women was founded is my favorite on this book list. Kip Tiernan learned the art of radical hospitality from her grandmother during the Great Depression. As an adult, Kip devoted her life fighting poverty, including the stigma that was placed on people who are poor.

When serving at a soup kitchen, she began to notice that some of the people at the back of the line were women dressed as men. After spending time with Dorothy Day, Kip became determined to open a women’s shelter where “women can come in here for free meals, free clothes, and can talk, or watch television or play cards, but mostly it’s a place they can come to where no one will criticize them for being poor, or dirty, or sick or alone or lonely.” Rosie’s Place was the first shelter for women in the United States.

The book includes extensive end notes about Kip’s understanding of the causes of homelessness, as well as thoughtful quotes from her. (Recommended for ages 6 – 11.)

Related Post: 4 ways social justice parents can teach kids about money

Shoebox Sam by Mary Brigid Barrett and Frank Morrison

Every Saturday, young Jesse and Delia visit Shoebox Sam, who operates a shoe repair store at Magnolia and Vine. In between waiting on paying customers, Sam and the children also provide shoes, snacks, and warm conversation to people who come in off the streets.

When the children want to know why one man eats six doughnuts, Sam cheerfully reminds them “when you’re hungry, you eat!” The story conveys generosity and deep respect for every person who walks through the shoe repair shop door, without being preachy. (Recommended for ages 4 – 9)

Related Post: 10 multicultural children’s books about generosity

Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn, Cornelius Van Wright, and Ying-Hwa Hu

It’s New Year’s Day and young Sam cannot wait to spend the lucky money his parents gave him! As they wander through the crowded celebrations in Chinatown, Sam thinks about all the ways he could spend his $4. Sam literally stumbles over a man sitting on the street, and he’s puzzled about why the man would have bare feet during winter.

As they continue their celebrating and shopping, everything that Sam wants costs more than his lucky money. After Sam complains he doesn’t have enough, his mother reminds him to appreciate what he’s given. When they again cross paths with the man who doesn’t have any shoes, Sam finally knows what he wants to do with his lucky money. (Recommended for ages 5 – 9)

Related Post: 12 comforting picture books about home

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

I remember loving this book as a child! Rosa’s story is a good reminder that people’s housing can become unstable for a variety of reasons, including disasters. When their apartment catches fire, the family loses everything in their home. They’re able to move in with Rosa’s aunt and uncle, and eventually to move into their own apartment. Neighbors pitch in furniture that they no longer need.

But one thing the family is missing is a comfortable place for Rosa’s mother to sit after she comes home from her long shifts as a waitress. That’s why the family is saving all their coins in a huge pickle jar. One day, the jar gets so heavy that Rosa can’t even lift it. Will they be able to pick out Mama’s chair soon? (Recommended for ages 4 – 8)

Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynne Williams, Khadra Mohammed, and Doug Chayka

When we talk about housing and homelessness, it’s important to remember that refugee camps are another place where homeless people live. The author’s note in Four Feet, Two Sandals explains that this tale set in a refugee camp in Pakistan was inspired a refugee child who asked the authors why there were no books written about children like her.

Lina finds a single beautiful sandal in the camp at a time when she has not had a pair of shoes for two years. Another girl Feroza, who is brand new to the camp, finds the other shoe. The girls decide that they will trade off wearing the pair of shoes each day. As the girls begin a friendship, we learn more about their lives, their pain, and their dreams. (Recommended for ages 6 – 10).

Action idea: Find ideas for taking action for immigrant rights here and here

Related Post: 11 children’s books about immigrants and refugees

The Fair Housing Five and the Haunted House

This unique book was written by staff of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Center, in response to battling housing discrimination in their city post-Hurricane Katrina.

Samaria and her friends love their new clubhouse, but they don’t love the haunted house across the street. When Samaria and her mom need a new place to live, it doesn’t take her long to realize their problem is even more serious than ghosts.  She and her friends, now known as the Fair Housing Five, decide they’re ready to take on housing discrimination in their community. (Recommended for ages 6 – 11)

Tip: Another wonderful book that has the theme of gentrification woven into it is Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott.  Jax’s mother is facing an eviction notice from her Brooklyn landlord, so he has to go spend the day with a strange woman he’s never met before. Magic is disappearing in Brooklyn as people who’ve lived there for so long as being pushed out of the borough.

Related Post: 15 picture books about social justice and human rights

Action idea: Invite kids to write local elected officials about fair housing and gentrification in your community.

Rich by Nikki Grimes and R. Gregory Christie

Dyamonde Daniel is a friendly girl. So, she’s surprised when her classmate Damaris runs the other way when she sees on the street one day. Damaris reluctantly tells her that the building Dyamonde saw her leaving was the homeless shelter where she’s living. Damaris then swears her classmate to secrecy.

But when Damaris reveals that she loves to write poetry and she really  wants to enter the citywide poetry contest, Dyamonde thinks it might be time for Damaris to let her secret out. (Recommended for ages 6 – 9)

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Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

Jackson is a kid who appreciates knowing the facts, and magic and make believe aren’t really his thing. So why would his imaginary friend Crenshaw, a cat he invented when he was little, show back up when he was in the fifth grade?

Jackson finds Crenshaw’s return just plain annoying at first. He has enough to worry about, with his parents selling most of their belongings. He dreads the idea that they might have to live in their minivan again, like they did years ago. But his parents won’t give him a straight answer about just how much financial trouble they’re in. (Recommended for ages 8 – 11)

Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Reading this moving story made me wonder how many homeless children are “hiding in plain sight,” as the book jacket describes 11 year old Ari. Ari’s 18 year old brother Gage can’t handle living with their overbearing guardian Janna anymore. When he decides to move out, he reminds Ari and Janna again and again that before his mother died, she made the children promise that they’d always stay together.

What Gage doesn’t tell Janna is that he doesn’t actually have a place lined up for Ari and him to live. Soon the two are couch surfing with various friends and sneaking into a shelter that Ari is technically too young to stay at. As her living situation, friendships, and grades become unstable, Ari keeps her situation a secret from everyone around her. One of the only things that calms her is playing with her Paper Things, which she’s been painstakingly cutting out of magazines for years. (Recommended for ages 10+)

Activity idea: Research what it takes for people to get government assistance, and talk about how homelessness makes it harder to meet these requirements.

One of the things that Gage and Ari often do in the book is play the “circle game” to understand why they can’t get out of their situation. For example, how do you get a job at a place like Jiffy Lube? By having experience working on cars. How do you get experience working on cars?  By getting a job at a place like Jiffy Lube.

Older elementary and middle school children can research requirements for programs like SNAP benefits, housing assistance, or your state’s version of welfare. How could being homeless prevent you from having the records to prove that you need help? Is a mailing address required to fill out the forms? What if you don’t have one?

Shop this list of children’s books about housing and homelessness on Bookshop.org. Your purchase supports independent bookstores.