A new picture book celebrates and affirms brown children’s varied cultural and geographic origins, interests, talents, physical appearances, and relationships—and it’s inclusive of creative gender expressions as well.
I Am Brown
Each page then shows a variety of children, with different brown skin tones, hair types, and body shapes, interacting and rejoicing in their many ways of being and doing. They demonstrate qualities such as love, friendship, and happiness, as well as more concrete interests and activities. On one page, they play-act their career options: “I am a doctor/a lawyer/a scientist/an actor/an electrician,” and more. On another, they express their play in terms of future goals: a child floating paper boats in a tub says, “I pilot ships.” Another, playing with blocks, says “I build houses,” and so forth.
One page shows all the children looking at a globe and the many places they are from. They go on to show their variety of languages, hair and eyes, types of home, hobbies and activities, foods they eat (noodles, steak, tacos, fattoush, and jhal muri, among other dishes); clothes they wear, and places they pray (including the buildings of many religions as well as “everywhere” and “nowhere”). Another page emphasizes relationships: “I am your roommate / your classmate / your friend / your partner / you boss / your driver / your teacher / your guru.” The book concludes emphatically, “I am brown. I am amazing. I am YOU.”
Prabhat’s illustrations are textured, colorful, and full of movement. Although the book has no plot per se (akin to many books about family diversity that simply show a variety of families across their pages), the children play, laugh, and dance together throughout. There’s a lot going on here, despite the deceptively simple words, and there will be lots for children and their grown-ups to discuss.
While the focus is on skin tone and not gender, on the page about clothing we see one child with pigtails who presents as a girl but is wearing a business suit and tie, holding hands with another child who presents as a boy but is wearing a prom dress. On the page about hair, too, we see one child who presents as a girl, holding up a fake mustache, and a child who presents as a boy, trying on a wig with long braids. We’re opened up to the possibilities of a range of gender expressions.
Both the glorious exuberance of the children and the global examples of foods, faiths, clothing, and languages make this book stand out. Upbeat, uplifting, and empowering, it should become a favorite in many homes.
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