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Summary
Summary
For me, brown is more than feeling proud.
It's the color I see when I see me .
Zahra sees the world in vivid color. When she's happy, she feels a razzle-dazzle pink in her hands. When she's sad, she feels a deep blue behind her eyes. But she isn't quite sure how to feel about the color of her skin. Kids at school tell her she is different, but her mother tells her to be proud! From a diverse team and based on extensive research, The Proudest Color is a timely, sensitive introduction to race, racism, and racial pride.
Author Notes
Sheila Modir is a pediatric psychologist, and Jeffrey Kashou is a marriage and family therapist. As Middle Eastern Americans (Iranian and Palestinian) and as clinicians, they advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion and work toward promoting resilience in children.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
When a Black girl experiences racism at school, her parents remind her to stay proud of her brown skin. The narrator associates colors with her feelings: Her hands are pink when she's happy, there's blue in her eyes when she's sad, red blooms in her cheeks when she is angry. Brown in her heart is her proud color; it's the color she sees when she looks at herself and what others see when they see her. On her first day of school, she finds she is the only kid with brown skin. She only hesitates for a moment before marching in with her pride intact. But when a White girl tells her she doesn't like her skin color, the girl loses her pride. At home, she tells her parents and abuela, who are all Black as well, about it. They tell her to remember the important people of various ethnicities who have shared her brown skin: people in her life like her own abuela, as well as famous leaders like Kamala Harris and Frida Kahlo. The girl draws pictures of those changemakers and places herself among them, restoring her pride. The protagonist is an engaging character with an interesting perspective on feelings. While racist incidents are rarely so easily overcome, this book provides a helpful jumping-off point for exploring facts, thoughts, and feelings behind racial identity, awareness, and pride. The attractive illustrations are full of personality in vignettes that flesh out the story's text. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A useful tool for digging deeper. (note) (Picture book. 4-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This buoying picture book focuses on a little girl, Zahra, who faces taunting in school over her brown skin color. Zahra associates colors with feelings--purple is nervousness, pink is happiness, red is anger, and brown is pride. But after a girl in her class declares she doesn't like brown, Zahra starts to wish her skin were a different color. When she tells her family what happened, her mother, grandmother, and father remind Zahra of the loving, positive people in her life and in history--all with brown skin, like hers--helping the young girl overcome the negative feelings she developed and feel proud once again. Cheerful illustrations make excellent use of color, providing a set of hues that trails behind Zahra to indicate how she feels. Considering the current racial climate, this text is a timely and welcome addition to early childhood classrooms that can be used in lessons on skin color, feelings, kindness, and how words can hurt others. Appended information offers caregivers guidance on "cultural socialization" and helping children shape their own self--concept.
