You may or may not have heard of a children’s book by actor Taye Diggs called “Chocolate Me”.
I am immediately excited when I hear of books that help a child to celebrate something about themselves that may not be embraced by the majority. However, I had to pause when I saw Taye Diggs as the author. It’s no secret that he has made some public remarks that many consider to be a put down to black women. So, there may be many who shun this book because they hate Diggs.
On the other hand, I have to admit that someone who has had childhood insecurities about the color of their skin would probably be the best person to write such a book. From TheRoot.com:
We’re guessing that after 10 years of fame in Hollywood and on Broadway, Taye Diggs feels pretty good about the way he looks these days. But that wasn’t always the case. He says he was uncomfortable in his own skin as a child, and it had a lot to do with being one of the few black children in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y.
“I lived in a neighborhood where nobody else looked like me,” said Diggs. “My mother took me aside and basically told me to embrace my differences.”
And from an interview with Diggs about “Chocolate Me”:
“When I got into high school I started to hear, just from the black community, everybody is more attracted to the light skin girls and the light skin dudes with the light eyes. And from within the race the light skin black people and lighter brown people would make fun of the darker people. So then it was a completely different kind of struggle. And then funnily enough it was when dark skinned men, and this was just from my perspective, there seemed to be a shift where all of a sudden we saw Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Tyson Beckford. I’m still trying to figure out how this came to be. For me, when I saw Tyson Beckford hailed as this beautiful man by all people, that caused a shift in my being. And I remember literally waking up and walking the streets feeling a little bit more proud. And then after the movie “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” when I had my own personal moments of weakness, I just had to remind myself of all the people that really enjoyed that movie and just kind of lean on that”
What do you think? Has anyone read the book? Will you be getting the book for your child?
Here’s a preview of Chocolate Me!
that I found on Amazon. I will try to get my hands on this book sometime in the future for a full review.
I have been looking and looking for a book about Daddy going to work. My son is occasionally devastated that his father goes to work. We try to explain the purpose of working but that does little to appease an irate 4 year old.
I saw this book in the library and grabbed it because I thought it would suit our needs. Upon arriving at home, I saw that the book was more about a little girl going with her dad to work for a day.
The book’s plot only served to enrage my son more (“Why can’t I go to work with Daddy?!”) but I still think it’s a sweet book. The day starts off with Daddy making breakfast for the family followed by a ride on the subway to go to Daddy’s work. The little girl meets her father’s coworkers and gets to assist him in making a presentation. The book ends with the family heading home to eat dinner with Mom.
It’s not a board book and is about medium length as far as a kids book goes. It has rhyming prose and about four lines on each page. The illustrations are very colorful and detailed, showing anywhere from a bustling city street to the interior Daddy’s office.
More importantly, this is a good example of three things we don’t see often in childrens’ books: (1) a focus on the entity of “Daddy” (2) a seemingly well educated and successful African American male and (3) a closely knit AA family. The little girl is also sporting a natural hairstyle of what appears to be cornrows and braids.
Two thumbs up for this one!
This lovely book was written by Eloise Greenfield in the mid 1970s. Despite its psychedelic illustrations, it’s a really good book for preparing a child to welcome a new baby.
As many of you know, we welcomed a recent addition to my family this past winter. My son was not too happy about it at first, but slowly grew to love the idea. I’ve gotten him some other books about being a big brother and I think that really helped. My best friend gave me “She Come Bringing Me That Little Baby Girl”.
Even though it really doesn’t apply to my son as he absolutely loves his baby, he still likes to have it read to him. In this story, a young boy is disappointed that his new sibling is not a boy, but instead a girl whose “fingers were way too small. She’d never be able to throw my football to me”.
He is also jealous of her. It’s pretty funny because I could completely see a little kid acting this way. He calls her an “ugly old baby” and comments on how she’s supposed to be new but she’s got “all those wrinkles in her face”. He, of course, comes to love her with a little help from Mom and Dad.
Pretty much everyone in this book is sporting a nice round afro. There are very positive familial images and the book also touches on friendship. This book may not be good for a younger child as it’s not a board book and may prove to be a little long for some toddlers.
Overall, though, two thumbs up from Kcurly!
I got this book for my best friend’s little girl. This book is actually available with several different main character choices of varying races and genders. Unfortunately,I don’t think it’s available with a little black boy. There is a cute little black girl, however. The other choices seem to be, from what I could tell from Amazon, a Caucasian girl and boy, or a Hispanic boy (with Spanish instead of English).
Your child’s favorite part of this book may be the button that, when pushed, sounds like a flushing toilet followed by a child laughing. C’mon, wouldn’t you like to hear that sound over and over and over again? 
Just a little warning: it’s a bit loud.
It also has a little potty training progress chart in the back which your child may also like. It’s a board book with pretty simple text and my friend’s daughter loved it.
I picked this up at Target for about 6 or 7 dollars.
The author is Elizabeth Winthrop.
We go the library pretty frequently. I now let DS pick out most of his own books. While he was browsing, I was checking out new books to review.
Upon seeing a glorious head of hair covering the front of this book, I knew I had to grab it. I never thought I would see so much hair candy in a children’s book! The mom has a TWA, the older sister has a long thick braid (which I’m going to say is a very loose texture or flat ironed ), and the main character’s hair….*drool*
Daisy and her awesome puff!
The story involves a young girl, Daisy, who feels her family does not pay attention to her (she suffers from the dreaded Middle Child Syndrome). When they do pay attention to her, it’s usually to critique her (“She won’t go anywhere without her stuffed duck!” ) or talk about her like she’s not there. After agreeing to a sleep over at a friend’s, she gets her family to finally listen to her for once. She also realizes that they do indeed love her.
Honestly, I couldn’t get into it. I mean, I suppose the story itself would be helpful to a middle child who feels ignored. I’m not a middle child, so I can’t sympathize. Perhaps that’s why I felt that Daisy was overreacting a bit. My son, who just turned 4, was a little bored by it too. This book would more so suit an older child, probably ages 5-9.
I still enjoyed seeing a positive display of an African American family. And did I mention the hair????!
My son and I found this book at the bookstore last week. It starts out:
Lola loves Tuesdays.
On Tuesdays Lola and her mommy go to the library.
This book is short and sweet, perfect for the toddler or preschooler. It’s not a board book, however, so beware if your child is rough on his or her literature
This book, which features a little African American girl (sporting precious little pigtails) and her mama, focuses on the joys of reading and visiting the library. I know as a child that I loved going to the library. Not just because of all of the books, but also the activities.
For Lola, there’s story time, sing a longs, and then picking out a lot of books. My son enjoys a visit to the library as well, so this book has been one of his recent favorites.
The illustrations are beautiful and appealing to a child. The wording is simple and the sentences short. If you are in Great Britain, you may find this book under “Lulu Loves the Library”
I thought I would also mention that Lola’s daddy is pictured in a picture frame next to her mama’s bed. My husband asked where the dad was and after some scrutiny, I found him. After visiting the author’s website, I also founds out that there’s another book featuring Lola and her daddy called “Lola Loves Stories” (called Lulu Loves Stories in UK).
We may be picking this one up soon!
