Honeysmoke

November 15, 2018
A biracial girl tries to describe herself in terms of color.Simone, whose mother is depicted as black and whose father is depicted as white in the digital illustrations with manga-style influences, asks her parents, "Am I black or white?" Both seem a bit dismissive. Mama says, "Boo...a color is just a word." Daddy tells her, "you're a little bit of both." She then asks a diverse group of friends, "What color am I?" They respond in ways that individually align her with them. A black girl says she's black. A white boy says she's white. A girl of color whose race isn't named says "You could be one or the other." Simone then searches for colors. She's not black like the tire swing that "stains her hands and clothes" (a line that may give readers pause). Nor is she white like the classroom glue that drips on her skin. But truly, no one is those colors, and the text shifts to present Simone reflecting that her black mother has skin that "reminds her of the honey from the beehives at Grandma's house." Unfortunately, she likens her father's skin color to "the smoke that billows from Grandpa's train," which is quite a stretch, and even Moises doesn't seem to try to make the smoke resemble Daddy's pinkish skin tone. Simone combines these words to proudly call herself "honeysmoke," and readers are invited to create their own color words, too. There is a need for books in which biracial children explore their mixed identities, but this simplistic tale goes only skin deep.Color-conscious--but that's where it stops. (Picture book. 4-6)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 15, 2018
Preschool-G Simone wants a color of her own, one that tells her story and shows who she is both inside and out. But she's not black like her mom or white like her dad, or even chocolate or peanut butter like her teddies. In a flash of inspiration, she invents her own perfect color word?honeysmoke?and it fits her just right. This positive, affirming look at one biracial child's journey to see her own color in the world around her will encourage other children to discover their own color words and empower them to define themselves instead of being defined by existing labels. Fields' extensive experience writing about race and identity translates with beautiful simplicity here for younger readers, and Moises paints Simone with great tenderness, placing her in a vibrant, luxuriously colored world. This is a sweet, patient tale of childhood identity and a terrific addition to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks canon, where it joins such books as Selina Alko's I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother (2009) and Taye Diggs' Mixed Me! (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
Simone asks first her mother, who is black, and then her father, who is white, "Am I black or white?" Following their unhelpful answers, Simone sets out to find a color "of her very own." The story, supported by art with an airbrushed look, lacks verisimilitude, but it has a ring of emotional truth that may reassure readers grappling with questions of identity.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)