Summary
Seven-year-old Lena, who
is accompanied by her mother, attempts to paint a self-portrait and is
enlightened by her mother that her skin color is not just one shade of brown, but
a composition of a variety of brown shades. Her mother wants to demonstrate this
by taking Lena on a journey through her neighborhood, where she discovers the
beauty of cultural diversity that exists in the multitude of shades of skin
colors. Lena forms a positive connection by associating the neighbor’s skin
tones with delicious foods.
Genre
Picturebook
"A format [with] a unique combination of text and art [which] includes examples from many different literary genres" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.12). "The central idea [of picturebooks] is the essential unity, harmony, or 'synergy' of the words and illustrations [where] the words tell us things that are not in pictures, and the pictures tell us things that the words overlook. [...] [In wordless picturebooks] the visual images carry the narrative by themselves" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.56)
Classification
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
A modern approach to deal with present issues through possible and relatable imaginative narratives, where characters seem real and setting is contemporary (compare Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, chapter 7).
Illustrations
Folk Art / Naive Art
Conventions of folk and
naive art "include adherence to frontal posture or profile and a disregard
for traditional representation of anatomy and perspective. Backgrounds,
including trees, plants, and flowers, are rendered simply, and there is often a
lack of three-dimensional perspective" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.84).
The illustrations are bold and colorful with rounded and simplified shapes. The media, defined as "the material used in the production of a work" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.72) is a combination of collage, guache, and colored pencil.
Classroom Activities
Reader Response Questions:
- How old is Lena? Why does Lena say she is the color of cinnamon?
- Has anyone ever mixed paints before? Is it true there are lots of different shades of brown?
- Why is Lena's mother bringing her to all these places to see these people?
- Does Sonia's skin color look like the color of creamy peanut butter to you?
- Why does Lena say to her mother "look Mom, the colors of us"?
- Does it matter to Lena that she and all her friends have different color skin?
- What food would describe your skin color?
Teaching Respect: Pair students
facing each other. Students will mix paints and paint a picture of their
partner's face on paper. Teacher goes around to each pair and discusses how
small differences in hair, eyes, ears, skin color gives us individuality.
However, basically we all are similar and all deserve to be treated with the upmost respect. Just a few drops more or less of certain
color paint and we have a different skin tone. Hang the pictures in the
classroom.
Aligns with the Saint Leo
core value of Respect, which states: “Animated in the spirit of Jesus Christ,
we value all individuals’ unique talents, respect their dignity, and strive to
foster their commitment to excellence in our work. Our community’s strength
depends on the unity and diversity of our people, on the free exchange of
ideas, and on learning, living, and working harmoniously.”
Activity 2:
Students are
to get into groups of four. Groups will
be given samples of the foods and spices mentioned in the book and copies of
pictures of the characters from the book. The students as a group will match up the food/spice sample to the
correct character and discuss whether or not they agree that these were good
descriptions. The group will also discuss how each of them is similar and
different from the characters in the book.
I really like this book
and believe it should be integrated in every elementary classroom. I find it
very courageous of Karen Katz to have touched on such a contemporary issue. The
author succeeds in promoting respect for diversity, by depicting Lena’s journey
through society, where she learns that brown is not simply brown, but that
there are many shades of brown, which are beautiful and unique in their own
ways.
Similar Works
- Whoever You Are (Mem Fox);
- We're Different, We're the Same (Sesame Street);
- All the Colors of Earth (Sheila Hamanaka);
- Courderoy (Don Freeman);
- It's OK To Be Different (Todd Parr); and
- Chugga Chugga Choo Choo (Kevin Lewis).
Author's Background Information
Karen Katz (born
September 16, 1947) created The Color of
Us for her daughter, Lena, whom she and her husband adopted from Guatemala.
Karen Katz has written and illustrated more than fifty picture books and
novelty books including the bestselling Where
Is Baby’s Belly Button? After graduating from the Tyler School of Art in
Philadelphia, she attended the Yale Graduate School of Art and Architecture
where she became interested in folk art, Indian miniatures, Shaker art, and
Mexican art. Her book Counting Kisses
was named one of the 100 Greatest Books for Kids by Scholastic Parent &
Child and was a Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection. Karen, her husband
Gary Richards, and their daughter Lena divide their time between New York City
and Saugerties, New York.
Other Books
- Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale, Henry Holt and Co., 1999
- Where Is Baby's Belly Button?, Little Simon, 2000
- Where is Baby's Mommy?, Little Simon,2001
- Excuse Me!: A Little Book of Manners, Grosset & Dunlap, 2002
- Grandma and Me, Little Simon, 2002
- References
Galda, L., Cullinan,
B.E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature
and the child (7th ed.). Belmond, CA:Wadsworths, Inc.
Katz, K. (1999). The
colors of us. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
Moon Palace Books.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2016, from http://www.moonpalacebooks.com/book/9780805071634
View a plan. (n.d.).
Retrieved April 13, 2016, from http://lessonplanspage.com/ssdiversitysimilardifferentcolorsofuscomparedtofoodk2-htm/
