Rarely do I see books with biracial children. They are becoming more common but still. "Honeysmoke" is a much needed picture book as the topic of color and race is its message.

Simone doesn't know her color. She doesn't look as black as her mom or as white as her dad. No one quite has the color that she does. She looks everywhere and yet there is no color to be found. Until she embraces all of the ways she is unique and she makes her own color. Honeysmoke.

I love the illustrations as they capture the beauty that honeysmoke truly is. I love the conversations that this can prompt with children and parents of all races and nationalities. It also makes me wonder....what is my color? ( )

Simone is a mixed-race child with a Black mother and a White father. When you get to the end of the book you will understand why using the words Black and White are just not adequate to describe all the colors of our skin. Simone does not know what color she is and she sets out to discover a word for her skin tone. You will share in Simone's life as she encounters possibilities that do not work until she lights on just the right word for her. ( )

Diverse Literature
2019

Honeysmoke by Monique Fields is beautifully illustrated. In it, we meet Simone. Her mother is black and her father is white. She doesn't think either of those colors is her color. She asks her parents what color she is, and they provide her with loving, supportive answers, but she still doesn't know what her color is. She asks her friends at school, they all say she looks like them. She takes out her crayons to draw pictures, but realizes she's not pink or brown. She wants a color that will show who she really is - not only on the outside, but also on the inside. When she arrives home from school, she really studies her parents. Her mom's skin reminds her of honey and her dad's skin reminds her of train smoke. She declares that since she is a mix of her mother and father, her skin color is Honeysmoke. At the end of the book, the reader is encouraged to come up with their own color word. I chose Starlight Sunshine as my color. My skin is rather pale - which is why I chose starlight and my grandpa calls me his Sunshine Girl - so I mixed a favorite nickname with the shining stars to get my Starlight Sunshine.

This book counts as a diverse book because the family depicted is a family with a mixed heritage. The mother is African-American, the father is white, and the daughter is a mix of the two. In it, the daughter struggles with some identity issues - as far as knowing what color she is and how she fits in. I think this book could be right on the edge of culturally specific and culturally generic. The characters are all diverse, but in general, the plot is more generic. That being said, it does tackle the idea of being your own person and finding your identity. In one of our supplemental readings, it suggests that diverse reading helps us find our differences in a positive way. This book does that in the following way - Simone inquires of her friends what color they think she is, each friend suggests it, but doesn't exclude her because of her color. At the end of the book, when we are asked to think of our own color word, I think it helps to break down the commonality of black and white. Puts a unique spin on it and shows that we are all unique but also similar. The author has written multiple essays on race and identity, she founded a non-profit named after this book as a resource for parents raising children of multicultural backgrounds. ( )

A charming story about a little girl discovering who she is. Celebrating individuality and self-discovery, Honeysmoke tells an endearing tale about Simone trying to find her place in the world. With honesty and heart, this story shows us how one little girls discovers who she is and makes it wholly her own. ( )

Great intentions, great title, great art, but I was completely thrown out of this present-day story when Grandpa when tooling by in his steam locomotive. Umm, what? Is that in his backyard? Oh, and smoke is characterized as "strong?" Huh?

Despite its writing flaws, it still might work pretty well for children of multiracial families. And, hey, honeysmoke is an undeniably cool word. ( )