You Be Me, I'll Be You

It's normal for children to feel out of place when they feel like they don't look like their parents. That is especially true for children from an interracial family. A little girl doesn't feel pretty because of her hair and her skin color. She wanted to have pale white skin and smooth silky hair like her dad. He explained to the little girl that mommy is the coffee and he's the milk and when they came together, they got milk coffee like her. Still the girl wanted to switch faces with her dad. And so her dad took the extra length to make her happy. He put ground coffee beans on his face and flour on hers. He took her around town and show her a new perspective in beauty. He taught her that not many people are happy with what they have. show more They will never be satisfied until they really love themselves. At the end she learned to accept herself. show less

Anna has a Caucasian father and an African-American mother. She is mixed. She doesn't feel pretty because she doesn't look like her father. Her father tells her she is beautiful but she doesn't believe him. He helps her explore her feelings by putting coffee grounds on his face, and flour on her face, so they can have different skin colors. He teaches her that he is milk, and her mom is coffee, and when you mix them together, you get coffee milk, like Anna. By the end of the book Anna has accepted herself and let's her mom know the lesson she has learned. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
(Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Library)

Being bi-racial can be confusing for most children. A little girl and father talk about why it's okay to recognize the beauty of being bi-racial and that it's perfectly fine to be you and embrace how you look and be proud of it. It's not only a good book to read to bi-racial children to help them cope but to all children that may not understand why some other children have different skin colors.
age 4-6
resource: pierce college library

This book is about an interracial child wanting to look like her father, She is learning about her Identity and skin color. Anna, the interracial child of a white father and black mother, explores questions and yearnings she has about her identity by "switching" skin-colors with her father. Estimated age group 3-5 years

This is a great example of realistic fiction because it is not set in any particular time or place, but racism and self-consciousness about being different are both issues that many people face on a regular basis. This is a light-hearted story that young children can relate to about being different and learn to accept each other. The girl in the story is self conscious about her brown skin, but realizes that both her parents, her mom black and her dad white, are special, so she is too for being a different color. This is a lesson children need to learn in real life, also.
The only part of the story that is long and detailed enough to critique is the character, Anna. At the beginning of the book, she is sad because she is self-conscious show more of her skin, but by after her father explains to her that everyone is different and that it took two different colors to make hers, and after she does a fun activity with her father, she realizes the importance of who she is and embraces it. show less

Ages: 3-5
Pierce ECE
This is a wonderful story about a young girl who wants to me just like her dad. The young girl comes from an interracial family; her father is white and her mother is black. She questions why she looks different from her dad and mom. She covers her body in flour to make her skin look like her daddy's. In the end she is very happy to be who she is, a little of daddy and a little of mommy.

Summary:
Anna is sad one day and when her father asks why she replies she wants to look like him with his white skin and type of hair that she doesn't like the color of her skin or hair. Her father then has an idea to make his skin darker and puts braids in his hair like her's and her skin lighter for a day to show she is beautiful just the way she is. When they go out in public she realizes people have some similarities she shares with people and ends up liking the way she is.

My Response:
I liked the pictures and the story between a daughter and father. I really enjoyed reading this book because their are young African American children who are said because their skin is darker than others. It shows a loving multiracial relationship show more between the man and his wife caring for their daughter.

Classroom Extension:
1)Ask the students how other people's response to different people may make that person feel sad.
2)Hand out a piece of paper with all the student's name on it and have them write one good thing about that person. show less