Black Is Brown Is Tan

Brown-skinned mama, the color of chocolate milk and pumpkin pie. White-skinned daddy, not the color of milk or snow, but light with pinks and tiny tans. And their two children, the beautiful colors of both.

For an all-American family, full of joy, warmth, and love, this is the way it is for us / this is the way we are

When it was first published in 1973, black is brown is tan featured the first interracial family in children's books. Decades later, Arnold Adoff's and Emily Arnold McCully's picture book continues to offer a joyous and loving celebration of all the colors of the race, now newly embellished with bright watercolor paintings that depict a contemporary family of the twenty-first century.

And the chorus rings true as ever:

black is brown is tan
is girl is boy
is nose is face
is all the colors of the race

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 03/26/2002
ISBN: 9780060287764
Pages: 40
Weight: 0.89lbs
Size: 11.28h x 8.78w x 0.41d

Review Citations: Kirkus Review - Children 03/15/2002 pg. 404
PW Notes and Reprints 03/25/2002 pg. 66
Booklist 04/15/2002 pg. 1405
School Library Journal 07/01/2002 pg. 76
New York Times 07/14/2002 pg. 18
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2002 pg. 318 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Black Issues Book Review 03/01/2004 pg. 66
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2002 pg. 318 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Publishers Weekly 03/25/2002

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 30633 / Black Is Brown Is Tan
Reading Level: 2.9 / Interest Level: Lower Grade / Point Value: 0.5