Let's Talk About Race

by Julius Lester, Karen Barbour (Illustrator)

Overview

"This wonderful book should be a first choice for all collections and is strongly recommended as a springboard for discussions about differences.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

In this acclaimed book, the author of the Newbery Honor Book To Be a Slave shares his own story as he explores what makes each of us special. A strong choice for sharing at home or in the classroom.

Karen Barbour's dramatic, vibrant paintings speak to the heart of Lester's unique vision, truly a celebration of all of us. "This stunning picture book introduces race as just one of many chapters in a person's story" (School Library Journal). "Lester's poignant picture book helps children learn, grow, discuss, and begin to create a future that resolves differences" (Children's Literature).

Julius Lester said: "I write because our lives are stories. If enough of these stories are told, then perhaps we will begin to see that our lives are the same story. The differences are merely in the details."

I am a story. So are you. So is everyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064462266
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/23/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Julius Lester is the author of the Newbery Honor Book To Be a Slave, the Caldecott Honor Book John Henry, the National Book Award finalist The Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History, and the Coretta Scott King Award winner Day of Tears. He is also a National Book Critics Circle nominee and a recipient of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. His most recent picture book, Let's Talk About Race, was named to the New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing." In addition to his critically acclaimed writing career, Mr. Lester has distinguished himself as a civil rights activist, musician, photographer, radio talk-show host, and professor. For thirty-two years he taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He lives in western Massachusetts.

Karen Barbour has illustrated many books for children, including You Were Loved Before You Were Born; Fire! Fire! Hurry! Hurry!; I Have an Olive Tree; and Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems, which was a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner. She wrote and illustrated Little Nino's Pizzeria, a Reading Rainbow selection. Her paintings have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Rome. She lives in Point Reyes Station, California.

Editorial Reviews

The pairing of text and dazzling artwork is flawless . . . transporting readers away from a mundane viewpoint and allowing them to appreciate a common spiritual identity. This wonderful book should be a first choice for all collections and is strongly recommended as a springboard for discussions about differences. — School Library Journal (starred review)

Lester presents the wealth of human difference as a treasure trove for discovery, and Barbour’s naïf-style spreads provide plenty of visual interest. — Publishers Weekly

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE is an enlightening read with important concepts and ideas that even younger children can ponder. Barbour’s colorful paintings give visual expression to the rainbow of who w e all are. — Black Issues Book Review

"Lester's poignant picture book helps children learn, grow, discuss, and begin to create a future that resolves differences." — Children's Literature

From the Publisher

"Lester's poignant picture book helps children learn, grow, discuss, and begin to create a future that resolves differences."

Children's Literature

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE is an enlightening read with important concepts and ideas that even younger children can ponder. Barbour’s colorful paintings give visual expression to the rainbow of who w e all are.

Black Issues Book Review

Powerful, unconventional paintings-at times evocative of Frida Kahlo-add to the impact of this compelling exploration of race. Lester writes in a deeply personal way about how we are much more than our skin color: "Yes, I am black but I am also a man...I have a deep voice and a loud laugh. (I love to laugh. Do you?)" This remarkable book will spark a conversation with your child about not only racism but prejudice of any kind. (ages 6 to 8)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2005

A comforting direct address asks readers to think of themselves as stories, and to consider the elements of their stories: families, favorite foods, hobbies, etc.-"Oh. There's something else that is part of my story. It's part of yours, too. That's what race we are." Simply and confidently, the narrative encourages readers to reject the false stories-"I'm better than you because . . . "-and to focus on the stories that lie beneath the skin. Possibly the most effective exercise engages the reader directly by asking her to feel the bones under her skin, a multimedia demonstration of sorts of our universal kinship. The offering treads much of the same ground as bell hooks's Skin Again (2004), but its clear statement of its agenda much more successfully speaks to a child's concrete understanding of the world. Barbour's jewel-toned paintings provide a counterpoint with an appropriately kaleidoscopic array of many-hued children moving fluidly against brilliant backdrops. It's an effort that could easily founder under its own earnestness, but the lighthearted, avuncular tone and vivid art combine to make a surprisingly effective package. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews