Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color, Written by Jyoti Gupta and Illustrated by Tarannum Pasricha

 


From the publisher:


"Why are our skin colors different? What makes skin brown? Why are grown-ups mean to each other? Five-year-olds have a lot of questions about skin color. And they're not always easy to answer. 

 

With Different Differenter, Jyoti Gupta uses simple, age-appropriate explanations and 14 fun activities to help elementary schoolers discover answers to questions that often originate with skin color and lead up to cultural, ethnic, racial, and class- or caste-based differences. “Dismantling colorism is central to dismantling racism,” says Jyoti. “So why doesn’t every child know a key word like melanin?” 

 

Drawing on her experience as a racial-literacy educator, mediamaker, and activist, Jyoti helps her readers understand the factual information about skin color and its related concepts that is missing from everyday conversations. She also gives her readers creative, play-based tools to challenge colorist narratives and cultivate healthy relationships with their own unique identities. 

 

Based on in-depth interviews with parents and educators, and over a decade of research and activism, Different Differenter is a one-of-a kind racial-literacy curriculum."


Text Features: 

  • Organized into four main sections: Seeing Difference, Understanding Difference, Learning Difference, and Loving Difference
  • Expository text mixed with art and craft activities designed for parents to complete with children, but could easily be adapted for use in classrooms
  • Keywords are highlighted to help focus discussion on important concepts presented in the book that may require more explanation for children to understand (e.g., genes, stereotypes, adaptation).
Critical Literacy Suggestions:

Read & Discuss: 

  • As you read each section, take time to discuss the questions the author poses.  
  • Some other questions that might facilitate meaningful discussion: 
    • What are some differences that we can see and what are some that we need to take the time to get to know about someone? 
    • Are there some differences that we don't have any control over? 
    • How might it feel if someone treats us as "weird" because of differences we don't have any control over? Would we feel different about differences we do have control over?
    • Why is important to think about stereotypes and try to avoid using them?
    • How can people grow and celebrate what's unique about themselves and others? 
Write & Act: 
  • Complete some of the art and craft projects shared in the book. Talk or write about how they help you understand skin differences.
  • Create a short video to teach others what you have learned about skin color and how we can help all people celebrate their outer and inner differences. 

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