If Dominican Were a Color

by Sili Recio, Brianna McCarthy (Illustrator)

Overview

The colors of Hispaniola burst into life in this striking, evocative debut picture book that celebrates the joy of being Dominican.

If Dominican were a color, it would be the sunset in the sky, blazing red and burning bright.
If Dominican were a color, it’d be the roar of the ocean in the deep of the night,
With the moon beaming down rays of sheer delight.

The palette of the Dominican Republic is exuberant and unlimited. Maiz comes up amarillo, the blue-black of dreams washes over sandy shores, and people’s skin can be the shade of cinnamon in cocoa or of mahogany. This exuberantly colorful, softly rhyming picture book is a gentle reminder that a nation’s hues are as wide as nature itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534461796
Publisher:	Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	167,905
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD640L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sili Recio has been calling herself a writer since she won a trophy in a poetry contest in the sixth grade. She is an Afro-Dominican storyteller, disruptor, and Mami. Sili earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rollins College. She entered the world of social media via her blog in 2010, and has never looked back. Sili lives in Florida with her daughter, the Frog Princess, and tries not to pass on her love of café con leche to her child. She is failing. You can visit her at SiliRecio.com.

Brianna McCarthy is a mixed media visual communicator working and living in Trinidad and Tobago. She is a self-taught artist and aims to create a new discourse examining issues of beauty, stereotypes, and representation as well as the documenting the process—particularly poignant in an ever smaller digitally connected world. Her form takes shape through masking and performance art, fabric collage, traditional media, and installation pieces.

Editorial Reviews

"This book about self-love and the importance of accepting others is a delightful celebration of the differences contained within the vibrant, vivid world and cultures of the Dominican Republic...Also interspersed into the text are various words in Spanish, and as McCarthy utilizes an unrestrained palette to convey the natural as well as the traditional and cultural beauty of this island nation, young readers will be educated and encouraged to see the wonder in varied cultures and experiences."

Booklist

"Discover: A radiant debut that deconstructs colorism and celebrates Afro-Dominicans and the diversity of the Dominican Republic."

October 2, 2020 - Shelf Awareness for Readers

"McCarthy’s stunning art interprets the text with texture and light, her illustrations portraying the diversity and beauty of the Dominican people. The lush foliage, the impossibly blue skies, and the otherworldly pinks and oranges spring off the page with joy and verve." - Kirkus Reviews

"This book about self-love and the importance of accepting others is a delightful celebration of the differences contained within the vibrant, vivid world and cultures of the Dominican Republic...Also interspersed into the text are various words in Spanish, and as McCarthy utilizes an unrestrained palette to convey the natural as well as the traditional and cultural beauty of this island nation, young readers will be educated and encouraged to see the wonder in varied cultures and experiences." - Booklist

From the Publisher

2020-07-28
This nostalgic picture book celebrates the author’s Dominican heritage.

This poetic picture book sets out to dispel stereotypes and racism around skin color in the Dominican Republic, but it doesn’t quite succeed. The combination of Recio’s extended poem and McCarthy’s richly hued landscapes captures the inherent musicality and vibrancy of the Dominican countryside, coasts, and people. However, the text is sometimes hit or miss, especially when forcing a rhyme: “The shade of cinnamon in your cocoa, / drums beating so fast, they drive you loco,” feels forced. The Afro-Dominican author attempts to extol the different races found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, elevating the country’s Black roots: “It’d be the curls and kinks / that blend my hair, / the color of charcoal / mixed with the sun’s glare.” In her striving to reclaim colorist language, Recio doesn’t quite succeed, and her use of terms such as “yellow tint” and “the Haitian black / on my Dominican back” feels at odds with the powerful message she’s trying to convey while inadvertently recalling the racial caste system put in place by Spanish colonialists. McCarthy’s stunning art interprets the text with texture and light, her illustrations portraying the diversity and beauty of the Dominican people. The lush foliage, the impossibly blue skies, and the otherworldly pinks and oranges spring off the page with joy and verve. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 58.1% of actual size.)

Glowing art can’t entirely overcome uneasy text. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews