Customer Reviews

Brown Like Me

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As transracial adoptive parents, we looked high and low for books about African American children adopted by caucasian parents. My daughter, 4, loves this book about Noelle's search for brown things that help her feel as though she belongs. Brown Like Me is a wonderful, thoughtful and joyful book about how a family can look very different, yet feel so much love.

This is meant to be a celebration of feeling joyful about your skin color, but my daughter and I read it a few times and then put it away feeling a bit bummed out by it. Mainly because the message was a bit muddled, and the images a bit ugly. A little girl -- black, but the rest of her family is white -- goes in search of self-affirmation by looking around her for things that are "brown like me." Am I the only one who finds it less than joyful, less than celebratory of the beauty around us, that among the things she finds to compare herself to include an ugly rug and the old brown siding on the house? She finds brown in the world around her, but the things she finds are a bit sad, and since this was kind of an autobiographical book done by an actual little girl in these circumstances, I felt more sad alienation than warm embrace. I'm not looking for a hard lesson in reality, for my toddler daughter, I'm looking for fun, happy, enriching reading experiences that make her feel good. If you want a truly joyful, skin-color-affirming book (especially one that's good for a child growing up in a multiracial family), definitely try "THE SKIN YOU'RE IN" instead of this one.

The story line in the book is really good but the photos are very old (sixties or seventies) and re-produced so many times, they're grainy and of poor quality. Just needs to be updated w/ much better photos!

As an adoptive mother of three it has been so hard to find a book that focuses on transracial adoption without an international topic. My daughter is three years old and, like Noelle, is intrigued by all things brown. I find it refreshing that this book is written in a child's perspective. It is simply written and the photos hold Grace's attention. This book would be a wonderful addition to any family's library.

I was a little disappointed. I expected the book to focus more on trans-racial adoption, but I failed to see that. In this book the writer simply looks for things that are brown like her. Maybe on the child level this is a good book about the color brown, but my son much prefers, "Black is Brown is Tan" and "I Don't Have Your Eyes" over this book.

A good book to add to your young one's library whether s/he is brown or white. The pictures are a mix of photos and drawings that lend themselves to wonderful discussions. My first read I was not that impressed but as I shared it with my Granddaughter and saw the pictures and heard the words through her ~ I was hooked because she was hooked!

The content of the story is great, especially for kids who are adopted transracially and are beginning to notice that their skin is a different color than their parents. However, I HATE the illustrations. One of them is pretty creepy, so we don't read it much. I'm thinking about making my own picture book using pictures from magazines/photos/etc. and laminating it for my kids.

This book is very sweet. It's autobiographical, and very helpful for Caucasian families adopting African or African-American children. In the book her family is Caucasian. We can't wait to read it with our baby!!

The reproduced photos are, indeed, of very low quality. What disappointed me most, though, was that it seems aimed at a tiny child. My six year old, who has been nearly insatiable for adoption-related discussions and reading, put it down, bored, within seconds. He hasn't picked it up again.

This book gives my son positive things to compare in the world that are similar to his skin tones.