Brown Sugar Babe By Charlotte Watson Sherman, Illustrated by Akem (2020) – hardcover
Brown Sugar Babe is an ode to everything that is wonderfully and beautifully brown! Author Charlotte Sherman wrote the words as a poem after hearing a beautiful brown-skinned child exclaim that they were pink. As a Black woman who loves being brown, she was devastated to hear that even one brown child “disbelieved the beauty of their skin.” So she set out to create a book that highlights and celebrates everything that is beautifully black and brown in the world. This includes a wide array of shades such as “bubbling brown sugar,” “chocolate drops”, and “dusk before day turns to twilight.”
Her intention with the book is to help “brown-skinned children love the skin they are in.” With the aide of Akem’s dream-like illlustrations, I’d say she certainly accomplished her goal! Akem uses a rich color pallette full of the most beautiful black and brown shades. The drops that she adds to the imagery, as seen on the cover, give the appearance of magical sprinkles. Sherman and Akem have created a truly beautiful and heart-felt book.
Take-away message: Brown is beautiful!
TAGS: Black, female lead, family, mother-daughter, brown skin, hardcover
