Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race

by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)

Overview

"An age-appropriate introduction to the concepts of race, gender, consent and body positivity, developed by early childhood and activism experts, combines clear text with engaging artwork to help the youngest children recognize and confront unjust actions."--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593519394
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Series:	First Conversations
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	53,814
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Dr. Megan Pamela Ruth Madison is a political educator and a lifelong student of radical Black feminism. She earned her PhD in Social Policy from Brandeis University. As a scholar-activist, her approach to research and practice is guided by the Sociopolitical Ecology of Development, a theoretical framework that she developed as a part of her dissertation. Megan has served on the boards of the National Association for the Education for Young Children and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. With Jessica Ralli, she co-authors First Conversations–an award-winning series of anti-bias books for young children and their grown-ups.

Jessica Ralli is the Early Literacy Programs Coordinator at Brooklyn Public Library where she develops & manages grant-funded programming including Books Unbanned Storytimes. She has an M.A. in Early Childhood Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and has taught in museums, schools, and libraries. Jessica is a contributor to School Library Journal, and in 2020, she received the Library Journal Movers and Shakers Award for her advocacy work in libraries. Jessica is currently co-authoring the award-winning First Conversations series with Megan Madison, published by RISE X Penguin Workshop.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/27/2021

This accessibly written, adroit primer prompts the youngest readers to consider how skin tone relates to race and ethnicity, societal treatment, and justice. Madison and Ralli open with several pages featuring simple sentences centering skin, each followed by a gentle, well-chosen discussion question on the facing page: “Our skin is beautiful, strong,/ and important just the way it is!// What do you love about your skin?” The duo then digs deeper, explaining melanin, race, and racism, with illuminating examples: “Racism is also the things people do and the unfair rules they make about race so that white people get more power, and are treated better, than everybody else.” Dot-eyed, clearly emotive characters by Roxas, vibrantly rendered and digitally collaged, are of varying age, ability, religion, and skin tone. An ideal conversation starter for any child. Back matter relays opportunities for adults to begin talks about skin color, race-related observations, family diversity, identity terms, and more. Ages 2–5. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ 12/03/2021

Toddler-PreS—A book that attempts to break down race and skin color in a nonjudgmental way, opening up the possibilities for discussion, sharing stories, and developing a path to critical thinking on the subject of racism. "We see different skin colors at the playground, at the grocery store, and on TV," states an opening spread, providing a neutral way into the discussion of how color became a system for unfairly sorting people into the haves and have-nots. Toddlers will feel the injustice even before they can pronounce the words. Friendly full-color spreads provide plenty of details to pore over. VERDICT Children and adults can come together over this book, which takes apart the meanings of race and skin color at the foundational level. It's a stepping stone on the path to understanding what it means to be human, with cheerful art and easy language.—Kimberly Olson Fakih

School Library Journal

This accessibly written, adroit primer prompts the youngest readers to consider how skin tone relates to race and ethnicity, societal treatment, and justice. An ideal conversation starter for any child.” – Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)


“This timely book is essential for all collections.” – School Library Connection (STARRED REVIEW)


“An accessible, important addition to any anti-racist bookshelf.” – Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)


"Children and adults can come together over this book, which takes apart the meanings of race and skin color at the foundational level. It’s a stepping stone on the path to understanding what it means to be human, with cheerful art and easy language." —School Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)


“[This] is the book we’ve been waiting for! Ralli, Madison, and Roxas did an incredible thing: they explained race and racism to young children, [and] also provided guidance to the adults who will read it to children.” – Social Justice Books


“If there were ever a concept that was difficult to break down into terms accessible to young children, it is the concept of race, so adults will welcome Our Skin for its ability to just that.” –Booklist


“Introducing concepts such as race and gender to children as young as two invites them to begin developing their own questions and thoughts about those concepts, allowing them to start having these conversations early.”—The Root


American Library Association NOTABLE BOOK (2022)

National Council of Teachers of English NOTABLE SOCIAL STUDIES BOOK (2022)

Parents Magazine BEST BOOK (2021)

School Library Journal BEST BOOK (2021)

Association for Library Service to Children Reading List Pick (2022)

Wisconsin State Recommended Book

From the Publisher

★ 2021-05-05
A conversation starter for adults and children on race, racism, and what to do about it.

Subtitled “A First Conversation About Race,” this book breaks race and racism down into simple terms and builds from there. It begins by asking readers to think about their skin and the skin of the people in their families. Through the context of differences in skin color, readers explore both the science of skin color with an explanation of melanin levels and questions like “What do you love about your skin?” and the social aspects of skin color and the ways that “people of color” are treated differently—both intentionally and not. The book skillfully tackles a broad range of topics, from identity terms to White supremacy, in direct and kid-friendly language. The nuanced summary of the different ways racism manifests is concrete and sure to spark important dialogue between children and the adults they read with. The message “Racism hurts and is always unfair!” is followed by suggestions for how readers can work to make change. People of many different racial presentations and ages, along with people with visible disabilities, are depicted in the bright watercolor illustrations. A “Continue the Conversation” section geared toward adults discusses helpful strategies for cultivating understanding of racism in even the youngest children.

An accessible, important addition to any anti-racist bookshelf. (Board book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews