You Are My Favorite Color
by Gillian Sze (Author) Nina Mata (Illustrator)
A lyrical story of parental love that celebrates and takes pride in the many shades of brown skin. Perfect for fans of I Am Enough, Hey Black Child, Hair Love, and Our Skin.
When you ask me why your skin is brown,
I will tell you that you are my favorite color.
I will say that your skin was decided long, long ago.
Time was just waiting for you.
So begins a mother's celebration of her children's brown skin, told through warm and vivid poetry. With sweeping descriptions of what brown skin means--it is the brawny bear whose paws know the ground of its home, the sequoia tree that reaches up and touches the sun, the glossy shell of roasted chestnuts--this is a book that empowers as it embraces, and that reminds young readers that they have shades of color that only they can discover and express.
With beautiful, lyrical text by powerhouse poet Gillian Sze and vibrant, engaging art by illustrator Nina Mata, the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of LeBron James's I Promise, this is more than a story of love--it is a song that rings out for brown kids everywhere.
Praise for You Are My Favorite Color
"This is a sweet, languorous celebration of brown skin in all its infinite shades and of multiracial, multifaceted families. Lovely." --Kirkus Reviews
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School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2--As this gentle title opens, a mother (identified as such in the jacket flap but not in the text) and toddler welcome a new baby to the family. The mother has light peach skin while the children's skin is brown, and the poetic text is framed in response to an unspoken question: "When you ask me why your skin is brown, / I will tell you that you are my favorite color." With each turn of the page, the children grow, dream, play, and spend time together as a family, and the speaker lovingly describes the many shades and qualities of brown she sees in them: "I see you in the sandy shore/ that the sea rushes to greet, / and in the sequoia tree that/ reaches up and touches the sun. I will tell you how you have shades of color/ that only you can discover and express." Mata's digital illustrations complement Sze's words beautifully; warm earth tones feature heavily, with joyful pops of color as the children explore the world around them. VERDICT A lyrical, affirming celebration of brown skin, self-love, and family. Recommended.--Lauren Strohecker
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Mother and child
Human skin color
Love, Maternal
Brown
