Hues of You is an activity book for learning all about the skin you are in. This book is very different from a typical Waterbrook kids book. Although Crowned with glory, started to alter my view of the types of books Waterbrook publishes, it was informed with a biblical perspective and foundation.
Hues of You has no evidence in the entire book that this is from a bible focused book publisher. Perhaps I need to change my thinking to a Christian publisher that is entering the same genre as most other publishers I know of, and their trademark books appeal to the masses, and not a particularly biblically literate audience. I'm disappointed as this book is well written in educating a child on race, ethnicity, culture, etc. But it sticks to just the large concepts and does not take advantage of the truth from the Word of God, that no matter what hue you are, you are an Imager Bearer of God.
From a teacher's perspective, this book approaches these delicate topics that could lead to upheaval amongst parents and community members, in a very neutral, secular informed way. It speaks of accepting what others believe about themselves. It speaks of recognizing that no two people are the same, but even that I have an issue with, as I am an identical mirror-image twin, and my sister and I share the same DNA. Our kids as babies struggled to tell us apart. So while this book attempts to be structured for anyone to recognize how unique and varied an individual is, twins are not always that unique in skin tone, hair, etc. But it is interesting that when we spend time in the sun, our skin reacts very differently. Likely because my twin has been a lifeguard for 30 years and spent a lot more time in the sun than I ever have.
If you want to learn how to be open-minded and approach this sensitive topic with a child, this book might be for you. But honestly, my own children, and many whom I have loved and led in my decades of being kid-focused, do not really see the hues of people's skin tone as a deal- it's really not any different than eyes or hair being different. The concepts that I suspect this book is trying to reduce or reframe from remaining commonplace, are often taught or caught, in light of recent events in the US, yes our kids may need tools to understand the ignorance of many grown-ups who judge another person by their skin hue. But I have to wonder if we focus on this celebration of hues, will it help or hurt in the long run if a child hasn't spelled out hues with a connection to one being better or worse than the other.
Thankful to partner with Waterbrook and get a copy of the book to review. These are my thoughts, and mine alone.
I did get a physical copy- and must say, the book itself is a lovely size, has thick nice pages, that will endure coloring, sharing, and using this as the activity book it is intended to be. But I did not like all of the print and font selections, finding aspects of the book challenging to read, and not really child-friendly when it is so tiny and fancy at the same time.
