More Than Peach

Gr 1-3--Middle schooler Bellen Woodard, President of Bellen's More than Peach Project, shares the inspirational story behind her decision to advocate for positive change that will ensure every skin color is seen as treasured and worthy of representation, including in such everyday tools as crayons. Woodard describes how she felt spurred to confront the presumption that the peach crayon means the "skin color" crayon by using purposeful conversation to grow everyone's perception into a more inclusive awareness. Woodard's call for equal, responsible appreciation for how "skin tones can be any number of beautiful colors" transformed conversations inside her school and continues to spread throughout her community and beyond, including her project's development of multicultural crayons and colored pencils, all labeled "skin-color." Liem's illustrations reflect the essentiality for Woodard's empathetic leadership and her global cause by filling the pages with happy, diverse characters, detailed with crayon-like textures set in recognizable scene elements. In the back matter, which younger readers may need help interpreting, Woodard encourages children to pursue their own agency and set up a drive for support. VERDICT Wise and heartfelt, Woodard's story speaks to young activists who wish for positive change by expressing the roots of her own mission to inspire empathy and product inclusion for a better world.--Rachel Mulligan