Let’s Talk About Race
Written by: Julius Lester
Illustrated by: Karen Barbour
Illustrated by: Karen Barbour
This book was one of my favorites to read this semester. I actually talked about this story and author during our group presentation on the genre of Information. This particular non-fiction book discusses the issue of race. This topic can be very controversial and hard to approach, however, I feel that the book did a nice job discussing this topic. The author, Julius Lester, focuses more heavily on the similarities of different races rather than their differences. For example, on particular page he encourages the reader to touch their cheek bone (gently and carefully of course ;))... he then continues to inform the reader that those same bones are underneath everyone's skin. Usually when diversity is talked about, the focus of the conversation is about difference -- different cultures, different races, etc. I liked how the author took a different perspective on the topic of race. This is a thoughtful picture book that may inspire some rich discussion within the classroom. Something a teacher always loves :)
The illustrations within the book are really neat. As you can see from the cover, the illustrator, Karen Barbour, creates cartoon-like images by using bold black lines as outlines. These illustrations often ran off the page and were bright and colorful. Differences and sameness were portrayed throughout the illustrations and really helped the reader grasp the concept the author was trying to get across.
The illustrations within the book are really neat. As you can see from the cover, the illustrator, Karen Barbour, creates cartoon-like images by using bold black lines as outlines. These illustrations often ran off the page and were bright and colorful. Differences and sameness were portrayed throughout the illustrations and really helped the reader grasp the concept the author was trying to get across.
I think this sounds like a really interesting book. I love that the author chose to talk about similarities among people, rather than focus on their differences. I think that too often authors choose to write about "others" and how their lives are "different". It is important to embrace these differences, no doubt, but it is also important to stress that everyone is similar in many ways too. This is definitely a book I would read with my students. I really enjoyed your review of it!
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