Beautiful You, Beautiful Me

September 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 1-Amid loving interactions with her mother, Izzy suddenly begins to notice contrasts between their physical features-her skin is darker, Mama's is lighter; her hair is curlier, Mama's is straighter. Her startling realizations cause flickers of uncertainty. What do these differences mean for two people who share such a close connection? Fortunately, Mama answers this worry with an easy warmth: "You're part of me, / and I'm part of you./ I'm beautiful like me, / and you're beautiful like you." Her gentle refrain, placing equal emphasis on their shared qualities and their unique traits, provides a welcome reassurance. Later, an afternoon walk brings many examples of different-looking mothers and children from nature: a white duck swimming with yellow ducklings, a red-breasted robin feeding gray chicks, a sandy cat caring for a litter of variegated kittens. The family depicted in the story mirrors Spillett-Sumner's personal experience growing up with both Cree and Trinidadian ancestry. Though the story's premise and structure rely on (however briefly) problematizing African American features, a final interaction somewhat mitigates the effect: Mama sweetly remarks on their different eye colors, allowing Izzy to take the role of empathetic listener. Perera's engaging art sets the expressive mother-daughter duo amid bright indoor and outdoor environments, which give way to jubilant bursts of floral energy whenever they recite their tender mantra. VERDICT This could give rise to story hour discussions of differences that matter and those that do not; this sweet portrait of a mother-daughter relationship may work best for one-on-one read-alouds.-Jonah Dragan

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2022
A young Black girl worrying over the way she looks is comforted by her mother. Izzy's favorite place to be is snuggled up with her mama. But being so cozy and close, it's hard not to notice all the ways that Izzy and Mama don't match. Izzy's skin is dark like chocolate, while Mama's is lighter like sand. Izzy's hair coils up in springy curls, but Mama's hangs straight in a long, swaying braid. Izzy anxiously points out these differences, wishing she could look just like Mama, but Mama reassures her each time that while "not all mamas and babies match...they still belong to one another." Spillett-Sumner's quiet text strikes a steady rhythm of call and response: Izzy's uncertainties and her mother's answering refrain that celebrates rather than dismisses the pair's differences. Perera's illustrations play behind and between the beats, gently pulling readers into an intimate visual space and giving dimension to the safety and strength of the mother and daughter's relationship. While Izzy is portrayed as Black and dark-skinned, Mama's heritage is left open, though she is depicted as brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A lovely accompaniment to any cuddle. (Picture book. 3-7)

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October 1, 2022
Grades K-2 Izzy feels safest and best when she's wrapped in her mother's arms, but one day she notices her skin is darker than her mother's, and it evokes sadness and confusion. What follows is an exploration of the ways Izzy and her mother are different, punctuated by a refrain that is her mother's response: "You're part of me, and I'm part of you. I'm beautiful like me, and you're beautiful like you." Izzy wants to be beautiful like her mother but slowly learns to accept that they're not ""matching,"" from their skin color to their hair and eyes. At one point, they take a walk and see baby ducks, birds, and kittens that aren't the same color as their mothers. In the end, Izzy realizes that beauty comes in different forms and that, despite appearances, she and her mother still belong together. Readers will be touched by the bond between mother and daughter. The illustrations are also warm and reveal the tenderness between the two.

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