Happy in Our Skin

PreS--In this picture book for young children, Manushkin celebrates the different aspects of skin. It has many tones, from "cocoa brown," to "peaches and cream," and sometimes distinguishing features like freckles, birthmarks, or dimples. Skin "keeps the outsides out/and your insides in," scabs over wounds, tans in sun, and exhibits goose pimples in cold. While the brief rhyming text is occasionally strained, the large illustrations, executed in ink and pencil and digitally arranged, depict a mixed-race family as they interact with a delightful array of diverse babies, preschoolers, and their parents in their urban neighborhood. Adults kiss baby feet, hold little ones aloft, and snuggle with them. The park and neighborhood scenes include a girl in a wheelchair and Muslim and Orthodox Jewish families enjoying themselves outdoors. Among many humorous touches is a scene in which two youngsters display their paintings while readers see all the paint on the floor and walls and a dog streaking paint as it runs off with a brush. The story comes full circle, beginning with a baby, happy in its "brand-new" skin, and ending with parents and tired children, all "happy in [their] skin," coming home after celebrating with "bouquets of people" at a block party. VERDICT A delightful feel-good story that will be welcome in most collections.--Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Greenwich, CT

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Manushkin (The Belly Book) offers a cheeky meditation on the everyday miraculousness of skin, with a biracial family at the center of her story. "It's terrific to have skin," she muses. "It keeps the outsides out/ and your insides in." Skin is also something we all have in common, regardless of age, color, or whether it's adorned with "freckles/ or birthmarks/ or dimples." With plenty of sentimental books about belonging available, a fun angle on the ties that bind members of the human family is welcome; the silly-earnest premise inspires several quirky observations to keep readers intrigued, including a shout-out to scabs as "a perfect seal." Following a light-skinned mother and her three children (who share their father's brown skin), Tobia (Baby's Got the Blues) creates an expansive, multicultural cast of urbanites enjoying themselves at a park, at the public pool, and at a boisterous block party. It's freewheeling fun--a perfect book for the months when we all try to wear as little as possible. Ages 2-5. Author's agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Mandy Suhr, Miles Stott Children's Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

With plenty of sentimental books about belonging available, a fun angle on the ties that bind members of the human family is welcome...Following a light-skinned mother and her three children (who share their father's brown skin), Tobia (Baby's Got the Blues) creates an expansive, multicultural cast of urbanites enjoying themselves at a park, at the public pool, and at a boisterous block party. It's freewheeling fun—a perfect book for the months when we all try to wear as little as possible.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The combination of lovingly humorous and detailed mixed-media illustrations and infectious rhymes will cause little ones and their families to pore over this book again and again.
—Kirkus Reviews

Happy in Our Skin paints a picture of an ideal world that recognizes the value of diversity and shuns color blindness—a positive message for ears of every age and color.
—Booklist Online

A delightful feel-good story.
—School Library Journal