black is brown is tan
by Arnold Adoff
from Amistad
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 tanThis 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
is girl is boy
is nose is
face
is all
the
colors
of the race
Brown-skinned momma, the color of chocolate milk and coffee pumpkin pie, whose face gets ginger red when she puffs and yells the children into bed. White-skinned daddy, not white like milk or snow, lighter than brown, With pinks and tiny tans, whose face gets tomato red when he puffs and yells their children into bed. Children who are all the colors of the race, growing up happy in a house full of love. This is the way it is for them; this is the way they are, but the joy they feel extends to every reader of this book.
Black is brown is tan is a story poem about being, a beautiful true song about a family delighting in each other and in the good things of the earth.
My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Black Poetry (A Puffin Poetry Book)
by Various
from Puffin
A compilation of poems reflecting thoughts on being black by such authors as Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, and Imamu Amiri Baraka.
Malcolm X (Trophy Chapter Books)
by Arnold Adoff
from HarperCollins
Malcolm X lived in difficult times - when some thought that black people were inferior to white people. But Malcolm believed that black people should stand up for their rights and he preached this belief everywhere he went. His message became popular because it was one of hope and pride. But it also became dangerous, because some people didn't agree with him. In 1965, one of these people shot and killed him. Even though his life was cut short by hatred, Malcolm X's ideas still affect people of all races. Here is his amazing story.
An ALA Notable Children's Book
Celebrations: A New Anthology of Black American Poetry
Thematically arranged contributions of eighty-five Afro-American poets.
I Am the Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by African Americans
by Arnold Adoff
from Simon Pulse
A collection of African-American poetry is specifically created for young readers and includes a foreword by Nikki Giovanni and contributions by such prominent writers as Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou.
Touch The Poem
by Arnold Adoff
from Blue Sky Press
Arnold Adoff manages to climb inside a child's mind, body, and soul to write these poems of seeing, feeling, tasting, hearing, smelling... being. He loosely follows the seasons of the year with verses about the hottest day of the month so far, raking and rolling in fall leaves, the itchiness of a wet wool hat in winter, and a "Spring Saturday Morning":
Legs Into Over Alls,
Feet Into Socks,
Toes Finding
Their Places:
I Pull My Boots On
And Buckle My Rain
Slicker All The Way.
I Am Ready With My
Black Rubber Hat.
I Do A Monster Walk
Outside
Into The Mud.
Lisa Desimini's mixed-media collages use photographs, paintings, paper, and computer graphics to create exquisitely original artwork that perfectly engages with Adoff's verses. These two collaborated on another wonderful poetry collection called Love Letters. No need to be a poetry buff to enjoy either one of these special books. Go ahead--touch the poems! (Ages 4 and older) --Emilie Coulter
From the joy of stomping through thick mud to the luxury of soaking in a bathtub full of bubbles, vivid poems and delicious paintings capture the wonders that children experience every day through their five senses.
Street Music: City Poems
by Arnold Adoff
from HarperCollins
Acclaimed author Arnold Adoff takes readers down the always-active streets of a busy city in these original poems that celebrate the varied rhythms and people of the city. Exuberant full-color paintings complement the lively text.
In for Winter, Out for Spring
by Arnold Adoff
from Harcourt
The glories of the change of the seasons are seen afresh from a young girl's perspective in this beautifully illustrated book by the author of Black Is Brown Is Tan and My Black Me. "What a celebration indeed."--Booklist. Full color.
The Poetry of Black America: Anthology of the 20th Century
Sports Pages (Reading Rainbow Book)
by Arnold Adoff
from Trophy Pr
Poems about the experiences and feelings of young athletes involved in various sports.
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