Made for More

A child pushes back against colorism in an effervescent picture book that considers themes of ancestry. In Ito Ward’s simile-driven text, a young narrator begins, “My obaa has skin like the moon./ Soft and pale,/ It glows and glistens/ like a lantern sent out to sea.” The child’s own skin is compared to sand, with freckles “like shells adorning the shore.” Though some advise staying out of the sun (“Don’t let her skin get too dark” notes a voice from beneath a parasol), the girl nevertheless surfs and scrambles up a mountain path. “Mama says my skin tells a story/ of an adventure over the ocean,” represented by ancestors sailing from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands, and leading to “old roots planted in new soil.” Abary’s digital illustrations combine textures of airbrush, gouache, and ink to render distinctive mountainous landscapes in this sprightly work about how “I wasn’t made for the shade:/ I was made for more.” An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)