Book Review: Black Is Brown is Tan

Author: Arnold Adoff Illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully Harper Collins January 2004 (reprint)

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Synopsis (From Publisher):

Brown-skinned mama, the color of chocolate milk and pumpkin pie. White-skinned daddy, not the color of milk or snow, but light with pinks and tiny tans. And their two children, the beautiful colors of both.

For an all-American family, full of joy, warmth, and love, this is the way it is for us / this is the way we are

When it was first published in 1973, black is brown is tan featured the first interracial family in children’s books. Decades later, Arnold Adoff’s and Emily Arnold McCully’s picture book continues to offer a joyous and loving celebration of all the colors of the race, now newly embellished with bright watercolor paintings that depict a contemporary family of the twenty-first century.

And the chorus rings true as ever:

black is brown is tan
is girl is boy
is nose is face
is all the colors of the race

CWR Review:

This is a beautiful poem about inter-ethnic couple and their bi-ethnic children. The poem starts with discussing the “colors of the race” and then proceeds to describe the specific God-given ethnic features of mom and dad. It shows the children with each of the parents, all doing life together. The poem ends with both grandma’s, an aunt and an uncle all coming over and the whole family singing together into the night. “Kiss big woman, hug big man, black is brown is tan”.

This is a poem, not a story, so certain things will seem “off” or not make sense. If you try to read something meant to illustrate a meaning, as a narrative, you are sure to be confused. You do not want to read this book that way. The poem has rhyme in the right places, and make use of numerous adjectives to portray the beauty of an interethnic family. The terms “black” and “white” are used when describing skin, but there is never anything derogatory or demeaning said about either. The entire book is seeking to celebrate the beauty of diversity, and help the reader glory in the uniqueness of the modern interethnic family.

Illustrations- Emily McCully’s illustrations are watercolor, and capture the beauty of the family’s spectrum of browns- from dad’s light skin with pink undertones, to the children’s medium brown skin and light brown hair (influenced by dad’s blonde), to mama’s lovely ebony skin and beautiful dark coily hair. My favorite pictures are when dad yells the children into bed and at the very end when the whole family sings together into the night.

From my heart: I am thankful for books like these that contain text and illustrations that speak directly to the heart of my own family. The author, Arnold Adoff (a European American) married writer Virginia Hamilton (an African American) in 1960 when it was still illegal to marry outside of your “race” in 28 states. This book is a great conversation started for how far we have come from racism and anti-miscegenation laws.

Heartwarming, rhythmic, exemplary, get yours here and here.

Themes- Interethnic marriage and family, family relationships, multiculturalism