Black Is Brown Is Tan

Amazon.com
Originally published in 1973, Black Is Brown Is Tan was the first children's book to feature an interracial family. In this 21st-century version, with new, sunlight-drenched watercolors, Mom is still "a tasty tan and coffee pumpkin pie / with dark brown eyes and almond ears," and Daddy is "light with pinks and tiny tans / dark hair growing on my arms / that darken in the summer sun / brown eyes / big yellow ears." The happy, normal family goes about their day, drinking milk, barbecuing, spending time with grandmas and aunts and uncles, and reading stories. Throughout, they celebrate "all the colors of the race": black is brown is tan
is girl is boy
is nose is
face
is all
the
colors
of the race
This warm and loving story is just as meaningful today as it was decades ago. Readers from multicultural families, especially, will appreciate this tribute to the diversity of the American family from renowned poet Arnold Adoff (Touch the Poem) and Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator, Emily Arnold McCully (Mirette on the High Wire). (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter


From Publishers Weekly
Arnold Adoff's 1973 poem black is brown is tan, featuring the "first interracial family in children's books," according to the publisher, appears here with Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully's new watercolors.


From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-A beautiful picture of an interracial home in which there is fun, security, and plenty of love. The text was first published in 1973 and remains the same. Members from both sides of the extended family come for visits. One of the lovely scenes shows "granny white" and "grandma black" arriving at the same time and then sitting congenially with the children "telling stories of ago." McCully has updated the illustrations with watercolor paintings to show the brown-skinned momma, the white daddy, and the two children in a 21st-century setting. For example, the earlier edition showed the father and son sitting in front of a typewriter, while in the updated version they are sitting in the same position, but the typewriter has been replaced by a computer. Children from interracial families will love reading about a family like their own and other youngsters will be provided with a window into such a home.Dorothy N. Bowen, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Ages 2-6. With the recent death of beloved children's author Virginia Hamilton, this newly illustrated version of her husband's 1973 poem is especially moving with its lyrical celebration of an interracial family like their own. Children everywhere will love the simple, joyful rhythmic words in Adoff's signature "shaped speech" style, with McCully's beautiful dancing watercolors that show the contemporary family (computers in the home), loving and happy together through the seasons. Mom is brown skinned; Dad is blond; the two young children are the colors of both their parents. The light-filled scenes are idyllic, even when a parent gets red in the face ("I puff and yell you into bed"). They read and sing together, work in the garden, play on the beach, and tell stories with granny white and grandma black. Adults will be interested in the biographical note: Adoff and McCully's 1973 version was the first children's book about an interracial family. In 1960, when Adoff and Hamilton were married, their interracial union violated segregation laws in 28 states. Adoff says this is an "enduring song" to their two now adult children. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description

Brown-skinned mama, the color of chocolate milk and pumpkin pie. White-skinned daddy, not the color of milk or snow, but light with pinks and tiny tans. And their two children, the beautiful colors of both. For an all-American family, full of joy, warmth, and love,this is the way it is for us
this is the way we are

ANNOTATION

Describes in verse a family with a brown-skinned mother, white-skinned father, two children, and their various relatives.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

About the Author

Arnold Adoff has written over twenty-five books of poetry for young readers, including Slow Dance Heartbreak Blues, illustrated by William Cotton; and Street Music: City Poems, illustrated by Karen Barbour, both of which are available at your local library. He is the author of Malcolm X, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, and has also edited The Poetry of Black America. He has received the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, and his trademark "shaped speech" writing style and his rhythmic poems have made him one of the most renowned children's poets of our time.

Mr. Adoff and his wife, celebrated author Virginia Hamilton, live in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

"Fragmented verse lovingly explores the colors of various multicultural families," wrote PW. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Emily Cook

"Black is Brown is Tan" is a beautifully written poem by Arnold Adoff. First published in 1973, this delightful story marked the first acknowledgment of an interracial family in children's book publishing. With an African American mother, the skin color of chocolate, and a Caucasian father, who's skin is not white, but light in color with tans and pinks and all the colors of the rainbow, this story blends colors in such a way that the beauty of this family truly shines through. The two children, one light, one darker, exude the beauty of both parents. This book comes a long way in making a point of the unimportance of skin color. Right on the first page, the author says "black is brown is tan, is girl, is boy, is nose, is face." Skin is merely one of many descriptive elements of a person, an individual; and the author is like a composer with his descriptions. Their utter happiness and the comfort of their daily routine are no different from any other family. It is a joyous occasion to see a book that shows such wonderful harmony and acceptance in the hopes that it will bring those feelings to those who read it. A delightful book, well worth reading with your children in the hopes that they, too, will see color as merely that. 2002 (orig. 1973), HarperCollins Publishers,

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-A beautiful picture of an interracial home in which there is fun, security, and plenty of love. The text was first published in 1973 and remains the same. Members from both sides of the extended family come for visits. One of the lovely scenes shows "granny white" and "grandma black" arriving at the same time and then sitting congenially with the children "telling stories of ago." McCully has updated the illustrations with watercolor paintings to show the brown-skinned momma, the white daddy, and the two children in a 21st-century setting. For example, the earlier edition showed the father and son sitting in front of a typewriter, while in the updated version they are sitting in the same position, but the typewriter has been replaced by a computer. Children from interracial families will love reading about a family like their own and other youngsters will be provided with a window into such a home.-Dorothy N. Bowen, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews