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I am a recently retired high school educator who is learning to spend time doing what I want to do. This is a new challenge in its own sense. It's like walking into a buffet and knowing you can eat all you want and not get full or gain any weight and for once you have absolutely no idea what you want. But I look forward to the journey of figuring it out.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Hues of You

 Waterbrook and Multnomah did it again!  They have published a book that parents and teachers both need to share with their students and children in today's world!  Well done!  "Hues of You:An Activity Book for Learning About the Skin You Are In," created by  Lucretia Carter Berry, PhD, is an exceptional tool for teaching children the bare facts about skin tone, culture, and race.  

I can't say enough about how well it is presented, perhaps I feel that way because when my children were young this is how I explained skin tones to them.  We focused on color as a genetic origin due to melanin levels in the skin and not as a product purely of race or culture.  We discussed how various people look due to where their ancestors and the climate that their families originated and why this affected their overall appearance.  "Hues of You" approaches the topic in exactly the same way.  

One facet of the activity book that I particularly enjoy is the task of coming up with creative names for the family member's skin colors.  The book explains why skin takes on so many various color hues and then instructs the child to think of a name for their own tone.  If I did this I would call my tone "lightly toasted white bread," because I am not pure white but a combination of paleness from my norwegian heritage and brown spots  from my age and love of all things sunny in the summertime.  My daughter's skin tone I would name "ivory cream" because it makes me think of soft and silky paleness with only a small amount of tint to it.  My son of the heart is definitely "butterscotch lifesaver."  He has a handsome toffee color hue which is striking with his dark hair and eyes.  

Just as in the activity book, it is fun to come up with positive fun names for all the varied colors that each person has which is unique to them no matter the race or culture.  

I hope that many parents and teachers of younger children choose to share,  "Hues of You:An Activity Book for Learning About the Skin You Are In" with their students and families.  I feel it is an important topic to talk and learn about, and Lucretia Carter Berry's book does an excellent job of making the reader enjoy the lesson and find creative ways to express their own individuality!

1 comment:

  1. That book sounds so good. I bet it would be so good to explain Auri how different skin colors exist. I will definitely look into it. Thanks so much for the recommendation.

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