Kirkus Reviews

Brown is everywhere.Holding a camera and on the lookout for all things brown, a brown-skinned child goes on a hike with their grandparents while their parents prepare for the arrival of a new sibling. As the text points out, brown can be found everywhere in nature, from the ants that carry heavy loads to the "mother bear protecting her young" to "a wrinkled maple leaf." Attributing strengths such as wisdom and kindness to the color, the child finds their own identity in it and hopes to pass those traits on to their newly born sibling. The story closes with a page from the child's scrapbook, featuring photos, leaves, and other objects commemorating the day. Though, as this story makes clear, brown is beautiful-a fact underscored by a slew of books celebrating the skin tones of children of color-the rhymes feel cumbersome and sometimes disjointed, and the text may not stay with children. Still, there's a warmth to the illustrations, which feature luminous shades of brown spilling across the pages, and the message is sound, using the natural world to convey the beauty of brown. The appended scrapbooking activity is a wonderful way to start conversations about the colors of the natural world. In an author's note, Kelkar, who is Indian America, discusses growing to embrace her brown skin. (The book was reviewed digitally.)Though the story likely won't linger, this brilliant tapestry of browns may spark discussions about identity and nature. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In a lyrically narrated picture book that centers the titular color, Kelkar (Bindu’s Bindis) follows intergenerational members of a brown-skinned family walking out-of-doors and beholding brown-hued elements of a changing landscape. Across the spreads, a line asserting a quality of the shade (“Brown is strong”) is followed by a related observational rhyming line about the natural world (“Tiny ants lifting a weight/ Rumbling train transporting freight”). Though the lines don’t always scan, it is through this lens that the family members—the child carrying a camera—encounter a wild mustang with a shimmering mane (“Brown is beautiful”), gnarled roots supporting a large tree (“Brown is stable”), a protective mama bear (“Brown is brave”), a striated canyon (“Brown is wonder”), and more. And as the trio returns home, where the child’s apparent parents arrive with a new baby in tow, brown represents both loving family and “potential./ A new life crying out.” In lustrous autumnal hues, debut illustrator Sofi’s rich digital art captures a variety of natural landscapes via images both majestic and familiar, and ends with scrapbook pages from the family’s outing. Back matter includes an author’s note and scrapbooking directions. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Oct.)

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

PreS-Gr 3— A young girl with brown skin and black hair and an older couple take an ordinary hike amid epic landscapes, such as a rainstorm under a large sheltering tree that seems to have grown at the end of the world. Nearly microscopic moments, including ants marching along the ground and "rumbling trains transporting freight," are noted. When they return home, the child's parents have arrived with a newborn. The celebration of all things brown, from a nest, soil, roots, and a baby's tiny promise, is wrapped up in very few pages; the author's note discloses a childhood growing up mocked for her skin color and even joining in. She later grew into an appreciation and love for brown, and then extends an invitation to readers to put what they love, whatever it may be, into a scrapbook, with instructions. This book is built on 100 percent generosity, even before readers know its origins in a child's heartbreak, with scenes of the grandparents trekking up hillsides and pointing out to one another the various things they spy; the trio revels in nature and in the company of the others. The artwork has the appearance of old-fashioned animation cells, with a stillness to the poses and frozen grins associated with the glory days of Disney films. VERDICT A baby's homecoming is a reminder of the joy found in the color brown, a cozy message that few readers will want to miss. Lovely.— Kimberly Olson Fakih