Book Review: I AM MIXED!

“I Am Mixed,” Written by Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastian A. Jones.

These authors gave me the honor of reviewing their book and I must say I am thrilled to do so.
 
The book was illustrated by James C. Webster, and his work is fantastic. The pictures really bring the words to life and help tell this wonderful story. 

The story is of two siblings that are biracial and attend an ordinary school in an ordinary town in this great country. While at school, "Nia" is asked by her classmates, "why is your hair not straight like Sally’s?" Her response comes from her pride and loving feelings she feels for herself because her mother has let her know how special she is, how wonderful it is to be mixed with everything nice. Her mother would say to her, “Your skin is the night and your eyes are the stars. Your smile is the moon that kisses my heart.” This is a story about love, self confidence and knowing how special each one of us is.
 
This book is great for young readers, as the short sentences on each page make it easier for them to read on their own. However we had a great time reading the book out-loud together.

I love reading books that sound like a poem and this one fits that build.

While I was reading this book to my children, my six year old son, Little B., and my four year old daughter, Ms. Bree, I could not help but notice that Ms. Bree had a smile on her face the entire time I was reading. Her smile said more to me than I can ever put into words. Bree fell in love with “Nia” and instantly pointed at the picture in the book of the boy and girl and said, "Me and Billy mama!” My daughter liked it so much we read it four times.

 

James C. Webster did a great job in capturing the children’s big beautiful smile on every illustrated page. They beam with self-confidence and pride. Not even when they are asked by their classmates, why are they different, did that smile turn into a frown. 

Overall, this is a great book about loving one’s self and how wonderful it is to be of mixed races. As some of you may remember, my six year old son came home from school once and said, “I don’t want to be brown like daddy. I want to be white like mommy!” I think that reading this book will help build our little ones' self-acceptance and build their confidence. As parents of bi-racial children, we know how important that is because the rest of the world doesn’t know what we know, that being mixed is a lovely thing that is made with everything nice and sweet and it can’t be beat. 

Buy this book for your children, your friends, your church and even your school. The book will truly be a blessing to all who read it.

Here is how you can own your own copy:

“I Am Mixed” can be downloaded now via iBooks, Kindle, and Nook, and preordered on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for the August 7^th, 2013 hardback print street date!  

Here are the links: 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/10QZIeE,  

Kindle: http://amzn.to/10gP0PE,   

 Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/Z6ENFf,  

Nook: http://bit.ly/YYOJ3O, 

iTunes (iBooks): http://bit.ly/10kwBR4

(“I Am Mixed” is the first in the I Am Book Series.  The follow up title will be “I Am Living in 2 Homes for children who deal with divorce. It can be found at www.facebook.com/iambookseries and @iambookseries orwww.iambook.com).

“I Am Mixed is an invaluable teaching tool that all children from all races can learn from.”  – Halle Berry (from her foreword)

      

AUGUST 2013

we received our own special copy!

Book Review: Princess Truly and THe Hungry Bunny Problem

Princess Truly and the 

Hungry Bunny Problem

Author Kelly Greenawalt's Biograpphy: (from the Amazon.com website)

Kelly Greenawalt grew up in New York City. She moved to Houston, with her family, when she was a teenager. She married her husband Chuck in 1997. Together they have adopted four children and have fostered many more. They reside just outside of Houston, Texas with their quirky dog, Pippin, and overly affectionate kitty, Mickey.

As an adoptive mother, Kelly is incredibly passionate about adoption issues. She believes that "rainbow" families like her own make the world a better place, especially when adoptive parents are committed to helping their children form a healthy racial identity.

Kelly has always been freckle-faced handful with a vivid imagination and a passion for storytelling. Her first book, Princess Truly and The Hungry Bunny Problem, was written for her daughters when she noticed a critical shortage of books featuring smart and capable princesses, especially black princesses with gorgeous natural puffy curls. 

Princess Truly and The Hungry Bunny Problem. is a picture book for children ages 4-8. It's an enchanting tale about a clever, problem-solving princess with magical curly hair featuring the delightful illustrations of Amariah Rauscher.

As we all know, there are not that many books that our brown babies can identify with.  But the first thing Ms. Bree noticed about Princess Truly was her black curly hair and how it was full of magic!  She touched her hair and placed her little hand on the page and said... "just like me mami".. and I felt her joy! 

She continued to smile as we read the first sentence "She lives at the tippy top of a tall tower"!  

As you can see from the pictures, she was eager to turn the page as she wanted to know what else the magical curls could do.

WE loved the book, the words used are easy for my son to read to Ms Bree and easy enough for her to repeat as well (Ms Bree is learning how to read!)

The book was not about "love" like most of the other princesses books are about, this book is about friendship, helping each other which is a great subject for children.

The illustrations are captivating and very well done! I truly believe this book gave my daughter that last push she need it to embrace her curls and her brown skin!! 

This is a book every little girl should have!! 

You can find this book here: Princess Truly and the Hungry Bunny Problem