Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2017), Edition: Illustrated, 40 pages
Description
The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. The skin I'm in is just a covering. If you want to know who I am, you have got to come inside and open your heart way wide. Celebrating all that makes us unique and different, [this book] offers new ways to talk about race and identity. Race matters, but only so much-- what's most important is who we are on the inside. Looking beyond skin, going straight to the heart, we find in each other the treasures stored down deep. Learning to cherish those treasures, to be all we imagine ourselves to be, makes us free.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ashdawn21
This book has ways to talk about race and identity, and reveals that race matters, but only so much,it is what can be found underneath the skin thats most important.
This book had very good points and was a very good book to read to small children so that they could understand race.
Have the students
This book had very good points and was a very good book to read to small children so that they could understand race.
Have the students
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point out how every one is the same no matter what color. Also, have them tell some ways that they can help end racism in the world. Show Less
LibraryThing member tricha11
In my opinion, this is a fantastic book for young children to read. I actually plan on ordering this book, so that I can have it in my future classrooms. Race/culture is still a lightning rod in our country, with some people refusing to look at people for who they’re instead of what they look
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like. This book does a fantastic job of presenting this topic in a light, but meaningful way to share a powerful message. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book, was because of the characters. The author and illustrator represented many different races/cultures in all of their characters to promote equality. Another reason for this being a great book was the plot. The plot was well paced and like I said above, touched on a delicate subject in a light, but powerful way. The third reason is that the book really allows for people/students to open up and think about this issue of racism. However, it does it in a way that doesn’t point fingers or make anyone feel uncomfortable. The main message that I took away from this book is that skin is just a small part of who we’re as people and that you want to get to know someone on the inside before making a judgment about them. Show Less
LibraryThing member akitso1
I loved everything about this book. The theme of accepting a person for who they are, not what they look like is one that is timeless. This message is always important, especially to children. The theme of this story is to look past the “cover” of skin and to open your heart. I really liked the
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illustrations in this book. They were not very defined and they looked a little abstract. I liked this because it related right back to the message of the book that physical appearance is not the most important thing. The illustrations encouraged the reader to look a little harder – just like the message of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member bphill5
Skin Again was a very sweet poem and I really liked it. I liked it because of the illustrations and because of the overall message that the poem created. The main message of the story is that it doesn’t matter who we are or what we look like on the outside. Instead, we need to be looking on the
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inside of one another and accepting one another no matter what. This was such a powerful message, and I think it would be very useful in a multicultural classroom or in an inclusion classroom where students may be of varying cultures or abilities. I also liked this book because of the illustrations. I liked the illustrations because of all of the references to onions. Onions are layered, and as you pull back the layers, you eventually find the core. The correlation between the layers of the onion and the layers of a person (their personality, likes and dislikes, etc.) is a strong relationship to link, and a very important one. Also, I like the bright colors of the illustrations and that Raschka, the illustrator, created very abstract-looking people. This also added to the fact that the book encouraged acceptance of everyone, since every person in the book looked different. Show Less
LibraryThing member sradin2
I really enjoyed this book for a couple reasons. First, I felt that the illustrations were very fitting to the written text and even enhanced the story. Since the book was about people with different skin colors it was very fitting to have illustrations of people of all different races. In my
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opinion the story wouldn’t have had such an effective message without the display of the different kinds of people in the same picture. Additionally, I loved that the book pushed the readers to think about a difficult and prevalent issue of discrimination. This story pushed readers to believe that whatever a person looks like on the outside isn’t nearly as important as what the person is like on the inside. I believe this is a powerful message that all children should be exposed to. Overall, I felt that this book did a powerful and artistic job describing a serious and common issue of racism. Show Less
LibraryThing member bexter1
Though the message of this poem was a great one, I didn’t particularly like it. The overall message is that the skin your in does not define you as a person and others must get to know you personally before they understand you. However, I felt that the placement of the phrases in the book was
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very odd, sometimes with only 4 words on the page that do not flow well being separated from the rest of the line. I felt the flow was rather choppy and not smooth and natural, which is frustrating to me as a reader. I also did not like how the illustrations sometimes buried the text, especially on the last page; with hard to read font color against vivid multicolored pictures that were so busy it was hard to understand. I would still read the poem again, but it could have been better executed. Show Less
LibraryThing member edefra1
This poem was extremely touching and shared an important message about race. The moral of the story was that skin is just a covering and does not show whom you are inside. The two things I enjoyed in this book was the point of view and the repetition. The story was told from a diverse group of
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races. The author did that because she wanted to show how the message applied to all races. It also helped to let go of any stereotypes one may have about those certain races. Furthermore, the phrase “the skin I’m in” was repeated many times throughout the book. I liked how it related to every race that was shown in the book. It also helped the book flow between the pages since it was a poem. I feel this book could relate to any age and it sends such a powerful message. Show Less
LibraryThing member kharri34
I liked this book for several reasons. Firstly, I liked the use of specific language to emphasize the main message of the story. For example, the repetition of the phrase “the skin I’m in is just a covering” made it difficult to forget the message that a person’s skin color does not explain
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who they are or their personality. Secondly, I believe that the illustrations helped to portray the overall mood of the book. For example, the multiple pictures of different colored hands shaking other hands portrayed people of different skin colors accepting and getting to know each other. The big idea of this book is that a person’s appearance does not give you any insight into who they are as a person. Show Less
LibraryThing member NoahGray
I really enjoyed reading "Skin Again" by Bell Hooks. I feel that this is a great book to show to a multicultural and diverse classroom. This children's book shows many different children from all different races and skin tones. The illustrations are very simple and are made of paint strokes that
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form children. The simplicity of the illustrations shows that while everyone is different from one another on the outside, "we cannot judge a book by it's cover," meaning that we should not judge others based upon their appearance. Lastly, I think that this a great book for teachers to present to their students because they can use powerful quotes from the text such as, "If you want to know who I am you have to come inside and open your heart way wide," to unify a diverse classroom. Overall, I would recommend this book to all teachers regardless of the demographics of their classroom. Show Less
LibraryThing member emills4
This story offers new ways to talk about the issues surrounding race and diversity. I liked this book because it was a new spin on such important issues that teachers must cover. "The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. The skin I'm in is just a covering. If you want to know
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who i am You have got to come inside And open your heart way wide." I think this story is clear and explains it's central message in a way that is both interesting to the reader, and still informative. The author chose to focus more on what is underneath the skin. The central message is that it is more important to focus on what is underneath the skin, not the color of it. Diversity is such an issue today and I think that this book is a clever way to touch on that topic. The author uses pictures to express the story just as much as he uses actual words. Show Less
LibraryThing member vbarbe1
In my opinion this is a powerful book. Though the word use in this book is quite simplistic and easy to read, the message has so much depth to it. The message of this poem is that we should get to know a person for who they are and not judge them by the color of their skin. Underneath the skin
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we’re in, we are all the same. The author makes this painfully clear with the language used in the poem. In the statement “If you want to know who I am you just have to come inside and open your heart way wide”, the author was saying that race does not make me who I am, it’s what’s inside that counts but a person would have to be receptive in order to get to know the real me. I also like the poem because the point of view is in first person. When reading/listening to this poem it is easy to put yourself in the shoes of the person speaking. With all the different races that were illustrated in the book, made it clear that the topic of this poem impacts everyone and anyone could be affected. Show Less
LibraryThing member kjacob9
I enjoyed this book of poetry because of its use of repetition and theme. I enjoy the use of repetition, so I especially enjoyed when the author of this poem included repetition. The author repeats the phrase "The skin. I'm in." all throughout the poem ensuring that the main idea is very clear
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through the entirety of the poem. I also enjoyed this book because of the main theme of the poem. The author clearly explains that a person’s skin color cannot tell their story. This is a theme that rings true for many people and is a good reminder to all readers not to judge a person on their skin color. I really enjoyed this book for the author’s use of poetry techniques as well as the theme of the poem. The main idea of this book is to never judge a book by its cover, people are all unique and should never be judge based solely on their skin color. Show Less
LibraryThing member sabrina89
This book perfectly shows that everybody is unique and you cannot tell from the appearance or the skin color who that person is. We are shaped by all our past experiences, dreams and desires. This is what forms our identity and not just the skin color.
A perfect book to share in class since it is
A perfect book to share in class since it is
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very short and tells directly what is identity about. Wonderful book if you have rascial issues in class! Show Less
LibraryThing member EmilyEgert
"Skin Again," was a poetry book that spoke about the idea that skin is just a covering and that its whats inside thats important. This book is narrated by a little boy who speaks about the importance of skin but states that skin does not make who he is. I found the repetition to be powerful in this
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book. I liked this book for many reasons, mostly pertaining to the message that the book was telling its readers.The phrase, "the skin I'm in is just a covering," was repeated every few lines of the book, emphasizing the meaning that the story was telling to its readers. I also enjoyed the illustrations, the art was abstract and often showed squares of the same picture repeated in lines but in different color schemes. I found the variation of color schemes to speak that the true color of ones skin is not what's important. I also appreciated that the author never said anything about how they were treated in terms of the color of their skin, the purpose was not to talk about the negatives of different colors of skin it was strictly about unimportance of skin. Show Less
LibraryThing member rjones34
Summary: "Skin Again" discusses how race can help trace a person's identity but what is most important is what is on the inside. Looking beyond a person's skin and into their heart is where you see who people are and how they are all unique. This book teaches readers to look past other people's
Review: "Skin Again" is a great book for children to learn to look past a person's skin color and look inside a person to get to know them. This book uses repetition to get this message across. Throughout the story, the lines "the skin I'm in is just a covering" and "you have got to come inside" are used repeatedly. It keeps repeating these lines to emphasize to readers that your skin does not tell your story but who you are on the inside does, which is what the author wants the reader to walk away knowing. In addition, I loved how the book promoted not only accepting others but to also love your own skin. The book says "the skin I'm in looks good to me," which shows the readers that your skin does not define you but it is also something you should celebrate.
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"covering" and take a look into what is inside of a person. Review: "Skin Again" is a great book for children to learn to look past a person's skin color and look inside a person to get to know them. This book uses repetition to get this message across. Throughout the story, the lines "the skin I'm in is just a covering" and "you have got to come inside" are used repeatedly. It keeps repeating these lines to emphasize to readers that your skin does not tell your story but who you are on the inside does, which is what the author wants the reader to walk away knowing. In addition, I loved how the book promoted not only accepting others but to also love your own skin. The book says "the skin I'm in looks good to me," which shows the readers that your skin does not define you but it is also something you should celebrate.
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LibraryThing member kelleemorcomb
I really enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons. I liked the repetition of the phrase "skin is just a covering". I liked how this emphasized the meaning of this book. Another reason I liked this book was because of the illustrations. I thought that they were all interesting and they caught my
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eye throughout the whole book. One final reason why I liked this book was the fact that it didn't rhyme. I think that the meaning behind this book is to let go of stereotypes. Show Less
LibraryThing member HeatherBallard
I really enjoyed this poetry book. It provided a fun way to explain that what really matters is what’s on the inside, not what a person looks like. My favorite line from this poem is “The skin I’m in is just a covering. It can’t tell my story. If you want to know who I am you have to come
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inside.” I really enjoyed the way she described her skin as just a covering. The big idea of this poem was to show that you should not judge someone based on their color. Show Less
LibraryThing member KendraEscalona
Skin Again is an entire book of a single, touching poem. Since it was one single poem over an entire book, it really kept my attention. Each page contained a single line, which creates suspense as the reader becomes eager to turn to the next page. Skin Again also kept my attention due to the
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repetitive language. Many lines such as "The Skin I'm in..." is repeated which shows the importance of this line, and also keeps structure and a nice flow of the poem. This poem expresses such a deep issue in such a strong way. The poem states that skin is just a covering but to society as a whole, it is supposed to tell your whole life story. I found the main message is to look pass people's appearance and get to know them for who they really are, not who society tells you they are because of their skin color. The poem ends by telling the reader "If you want to know who I am, you have to come inside." Show Less
LibraryThing member StephanieGrim
I enjoyed this poetry book for two main reasons. First of all the author's, Bell Hooks, use of language with an emphasis on a specific repeated phrase, helped create a patterned flow within the book. The author continuously repeated the phrase, "this skin I'm in is just a covering... look inside"
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to help structure the poetry and successfully gave the book a strong, readable quality. I also enjoyed the use of illustrations in this book to help convey meaning. For example, there were many images that showed different skin colors of people either isolated on different pages, or coming together like the black and white clasped hands, to show the different ideas the author was discussing in the poetry. The different aspects of this book helped portray the main idea of not judging a book by its cover and getting to know what inside, because that is what really matters. Show Less
LibraryThing member carolinetownsend
I really liked this book! The illustrations were very direct and to the point showing different skin tones. My favorite illustration in the book was an arm that had every skin color on it, with all the colors blending together. I also really liked the writing in this poetry book. "The skin I'm in
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will always be just a covering. It cannot tell my story". This is such a strong statement and defines the overall message throughout the book. I believe that the main idea of this story is to emphasize the importance of not judging a person by their skin tone but rather who they are on the inside. Show Less
LibraryThing member ElizabethHaaser
“Skin Again” is a collection of poems by Bell Hooks, and is a fabulous read. I enjoyed this poetry book for two main reasons. First, the illustrations by Chris Raschka were very interesting to look at. They were a bit abstract in their shapes and in their representations of people, and there
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were a lot of symbols that represented different cultures throughout the pages. I also liked that the art filled the whole space of each page. The second reason I enjoyed this collection was due to the repetition of certain important phrases, like “The skin I’m in is just a covering.” I think it was nice to have these lines repeated so that I could revisit the meaning and reflect deeper on it. I think that the overall message is about not judging anyone on the color of his or her skin. The skin color of a person may reflect some aspects of a life, but not the full picture. Skin color does not account for hobbies, believes, and dreams. To know a person fully, one has to look beyond the skin color. Show Less
LibraryThing member thnguyen
I love this story. The whole story are poems and throughout the story it gave such strong statement and message. It shows that everyone should look beyond the color of people skin and people should get to know each other from the inside. The illustrations is also great it shows us the pictures
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behind the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member Analley
As a future teacher I know I will see diversity throughout the school I am teaching at, but this book shows the students and the teacher that having a different skin tone should not matter. The book discuss on a child friendly level that when meeting someone new you should not just look at their
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skin tone, but you should get to know them for the person they are on the inside. I think this book would be a great icebreaker at the beginning of the school year, to allow children to understand that they are in a new classroom environment and everyone of their new classmates wont be the same skin tone, but they might like the same things or have many things in common with each other once they get to know each other. Show Less
LibraryThing member bmalon6
This was a great book for children. The main message of this story is that it doesn't matter whats on the outside, what matter is whats on the inside. The pictures is this story were awesome. I liked how everyone had the same facial expressions and their bodies were what characteristics they had on
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the inside. This really exaggerated the idea of the color of skin not mattering. I also liked how the words were very big and simple. This made such an important concept an easy read. For example, "The skin I'm in is just a covering." The author made sure the language was simple and clear. Lastly, I liked how it pushed readers to think about this difficult topic of race. Unfortunately race is still an issue in some areas. The book showed children that even though were all different colors were still all humans. Show Less
LibraryThing member kdjones9
I really enjoyed this poem turned picture book selection that emphasizes the importance of what's on the inside versus the color of the outside. I utilized this book with my second grade students on the importance of treating everyone with kindness and respect.
Subjects
Awards
Red Clover Book Award (Nominee — 2006)
CCBC Choices (2005)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2004
Physical description
40 p.; 9.7 inches
ISBN
1484799232 / 9781484799239
Other editions
Skin Again by bell hooks (Hardcover)
Skin Again by bell hooks (Hardcover)