Chocolate Me!

Chocolate Me!

Written by: Taye Diggs

Illustrated by: Shane W. Evans

Fewiwel and Friends,  2011

36 pages

Picture Book: Multicultural

            I chose this book because it reminded me of some of my practicums students this semester. I was in a predominantly African American school this semester, and I fell in love with the children there. This book is about a little boy who gets teased because of the dark, chocolate color of his skin. He gets teased about his nose, name, and hair. His mother helps him see what he cannot see with his own eyes. She helps him the beauty and uniqueness that he holds. The little boy is able to accept himself and share chocolate cupcakes with his Caucasian friends.

            The illustrator of this book is Shane W. Evans. He is a very popular African American illustrator. He uses pencils, watercolor, real images, and digital art to create his illustrations. Shane uses vivid, bright colors to tell this story. He uses a lot of blue, yellow, orange, and chocolate brown. He does an excellent job of blending the watercolor, real images, and digital art to make these illustrations. 

            This book is appropriate for ages 4-8. I would use this book in a first grade classroom. I would read this book to lead into a discussion about diversity for a character education lesson. I would read this book and discuss diversity and how each child is made to be unique and special. I would use this book for a history lesson on Black History Month. I would use this book to introduce a lesson about famous African American people who have who were significant citizens of this country. I would also use this book to introduce a science lesson on chocolate. I would bring chocolate for the students to eat, and we would discuss how chocolate is made and what it means to us. We would discuss the different uses of the word “chocolate” in this story.