This article is the result of research that aimed to analyze the presence of black characters in children's literature books selected by the National Program of School Library (PNBE) in 2010. Besides the analysis of the collection of the Program, the research subjects were students of second and fifth years from Public Elementary School in a town in the state of São Paulo. The findings indicated that only eight books addressed to the topic. Students of black ancestry recognized, through interviews and discussions in groups, absence of black characters that could be references for the construction of ethnic identity among other manifestations.
PNBE; Children’s Literature; Ethnic-racial Relations; Construction of Black Identity