Customer Reviews

Let's Talk About Race

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone has a story that is made up of lots of things like when they were born, what race they are, who their parents are and lots more. This book is all about race. It teaches us that we are really all the same deep down. Everyone is a person that deserves to be treated with respect no matter what color their skin is.

The book is full of colorful images. The book is not too long to read all at once and it has a great message.

We would recommend this to teachers and anyone who works with children. The book is a great way to open discussions on racism, and treating others with respect and kindness regardless of who they are, where they live, the color of their skin, or what clothes they wear.

There is nothing like a thoughtful picture book to inspire rich discussion. LET'S TALK ABOUT RACE, by Julius Lester, is a perfect example. This compelling picture book is a simple, yet elegant, exploration of personal identity. It is easily read in one sitting, and yet the layered illustrations encourage the reader to linger on each page. Julius Lester's well-chosen words, combined with Karen Barbour's extraordinary drawings make this a must-have for schools and libraries.

Children should be taught about who they are, both inside and out, getting to know others before they prejudge them, and that it's what is inside of each of us that makes us special. Additionally, they should understand that what we are inside is important regardless of our race, the color/texture of our hair, where we live, or how rich or poor we are. Newberry Honor Book Author Julius Lester explores these areas in his latest book for children LET'S TALK ABOUT RACE.

I enjoyed LET'S TALK ABOUT RACE and think it is a wonderful tool for helping children understand the differences in those around them and that no one is better than anyone else simply because they are different in some way. I encourage parents and educators to share this book with their children at the early stages when they begin questioning their bodies and comparing them to others. It is clearly understood after reading this bright and vibrantly painted book that "beneath everyone's skin are the same hard bones."

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Love this book, great illustrations, gave it a read with my daughter, who's nearly six and it made me a little uncomfortable, mostly because she lives in one of the most diverse areas in the nation (silicon valley, CA) and she doesnt really see borders between people...I kind of felt like this book might make her see that too early in a sense and make her a little more conscious of race, and she doesn't feel that way now. Hopefully that makes sense; I don't know if it will read well as a review...just my two cents. I just dont think kids under 6 or even 7 will really get it, ESP. If they're used to seeing a great variety of ethnicities on a day-to-day basis and it's never really pointed out...she doesn't care who she plays with, be it black, white, Chinese, Korean, east indian, etc., she just never thinks about skin color, and neither do I. Also, there's a couple of lines I kinda glossed over, like when the author states he has asthma and his brother's dead...although interesting, I found it too serious to relay that to my daughter.

In truth, as an artist, I just thought the illustrations were AMAZING & wanted this book more for that alone.

I'm Japanese/white and have many friends of various racial backgrounds.

This text is a perfect book to use with third and fourth graders. Students begin to see "differences" at this age and Lester teaches his readers that we are all essentially the same, but with our own unique stories. This is a fantastic text to use as a model for creating character maps, personal story maps and creating podcasts for student book talks.

We liked the title and the colorfull presentation of this book. This motivated my daughter to ask infinite questions about how would we really look inside if we all remove our skins. I think this was a brilliant way to approach the subject.

Really liked the way this book talked about race and it's uniqueness but also "sameness". Helps bring a big concept to a child's level!

The kids loved reading this book and making their own self-portraits. It is another brillant piece by Julius Lester (Most of his other stuff is for older students)