Here are 100 books that All The Colors We Are / Todos los colores de nuestra piel fans have personally recommended if you like All The Colors We Are / Todos los colores de nuestra piel. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race

Shelley Rotner Author Of Shades of People

From my list on picture books about skin color.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning children’s book author and photo-illustrator of over sixty picture books. I got my first camera when I was five years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I realized in college that photography was my passion, and I studied photojournalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Soon after I received graduate degrees in early childhood education and museum education at Bank Street College of Education. After teaching kindergarten, first, and second grade, I combined my passions to create books. My books have always been about inclusivity and diversity. I hope all children can find themselves in my books to help them navigate the world they live in.

Shelley's book list on picture books about skin color

Shelley Rotner Why Shelley loves this book

I loved this book because it is a board book for a larger age group of kids and shows a range of kids and their skin color, showing kids doing what kids do—playing, learning, and living their lives.

I also love that this is a board book and appeals to younger children who are observing and trying to process the world they live in. Also, it is an early introduction to racism. This book represents all colors, and it is about inclusivity and the joy of being who you are.

By Megan Madison , Jessica Ralli , Isabel Roxas (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Our Skin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

Developed by experts in the fields of early childhood and activism against injustice, this topic-driven board book offers clear, concrete language and beautiful imagery that young children can grasp and adults can leverage for further discussion.

While young children are avid observers and questioners of their world, adults often shut down or postpone conversations on complicated topics because it's hard to know where to begin. Research shows that talking about issues like race and gender from the age of two not only helps children understand what they see, but also increases self-awareness, self-esteem, and allows them to recognize and confront…


Book cover of The Colors of Us

Shelley Rotner Author Of Shades of People

From my list on picture books about skin color.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning children’s book author and photo-illustrator of over sixty picture books. I got my first camera when I was five years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I realized in college that photography was my passion, and I studied photojournalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Soon after I received graduate degrees in early childhood education and museum education at Bank Street College of Education. After teaching kindergarten, first, and second grade, I combined my passions to create books. My books have always been about inclusivity and diversity. I hope all children can find themselves in my books to help them navigate the world they live in.

Shelley's book list on picture books about skin color

Shelley Rotner Why Shelley loves this book

I loved this book because it is for younger kids who are just noticing details and differences in their new friends and people they have in their world.

Children are often asked to make self-portraits, and this book helps children focus on who they are, what they look like, and how to best try to represent themselves.

By Karen Katz ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Colors of Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

A positive and affirming look at skin color, from an artist's perspective.

Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades.

Through the eyes of a little girl who begins to see her familiar world in a new way, this book celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people.

Karen Katz created The Colors of Us for her daughter, Lena, whom she and her husband adopted from Guatemala…


Book cover of Happy in Our Skin

Shelley Rotner Author Of Shades of People

From my list on picture books about skin color.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning children’s book author and photo-illustrator of over sixty picture books. I got my first camera when I was five years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I realized in college that photography was my passion, and I studied photojournalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Soon after I received graduate degrees in early childhood education and museum education at Bank Street College of Education. After teaching kindergarten, first, and second grade, I combined my passions to create books. My books have always been about inclusivity and diversity. I hope all children can find themselves in my books to help them navigate the world they live in.

Shelley's book list on picture books about skin color

Shelley Rotner Why Shelley loves this book

This book is great for young kids as an introduction to the fact that we all come in many different skin colors and the joy of these differences is a good thing.

I really like the rhymes which add a playful tone for young readers. I also really like the energy of this book that makes for a fun read aloud.

By Fran Manushkin , Lauren Tobia (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Happy in Our Skin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

“A cheeky meditation on the everyday miraculousness of skin. . . . It’s freewheeling fun.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Is there anything more splendid than a baby’s skin? Cocoa-brown, cinnamon, peaches and cream. As children grow, their clever skin does, too, enjoying hugs and tickles, protecting them inside and out, and making them one of a kind. Fran Manushkin’s rollicking text and Lauren Tobia’s delicious illustrations paint a breezy and irresistible picture of the human family — and how wonderful it is to be just who you are.


Book cover of Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color

Shelley Rotner Author Of Shades of People

From my list on picture books about skin color.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning children’s book author and photo-illustrator of over sixty picture books. I got my first camera when I was five years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I realized in college that photography was my passion, and I studied photojournalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Soon after I received graduate degrees in early childhood education and museum education at Bank Street College of Education. After teaching kindergarten, first, and second grade, I combined my passions to create books. My books have always been about inclusivity and diversity. I hope all children can find themselves in my books to help them navigate the world they live in.

Shelley's book list on picture books about skin color

Shelley Rotner Why Shelley loves this book

I love this book because it is an activity book about skin color.

It helps children think about color and race in a thoughtful yet simple way to better understand the subject. I also like how it acknowledges families and ethnicities and how, even in one family, skin colors can be different.

By Jyoti Gupta , Tarannum Pasricha (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Different Differenter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

Different Differenter is a beautifully-illustrated, full-color, activity book for children that thoughtfully addresses everyday skin color consciousness (and bias) in a way that's easy to understand.

Children's rich observations and questions about color, caste, race elicit accurate yet straightforward responses. Jyoti's art-and-craft-based book takes you on a playful and creative discovery to find answers that work for you and your family--while creatively introducing facts of history and 15-plus new words. Make art. Perform a play for the nanas when they're in town. Eat a yummy homemade dessert. Ooh! and aah! about how each member of the family has a different…


Book cover of The Remarkable Life of the Skin: An Intimate Journey Across Our Largest Organ

Roy A. Meals Author Of Muscle: The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement

From my list on friend your body’s marvelous machines.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been in love with biology since first playing with earthworms and marveling at the sprouting of radish seeds as a five-year-old. Further interest and curiosity led me to positions as nature counselor at summer camps and an eventual college degree in biology. Medical school was at times tedious, but the efficient, compact, durable mechanics of the musculoskeletal system totally engaged my interest. A residency in orthopedic surgery and a fellowship in hand surgery were natural follow-ons. My other passion is a love of teaching, taking a learner from where ever their understanding is presently and guiding them to what they need to know next. And they should have fun in the process.

Roy's book list on friend your body’s marvelous machines

Roy A. Meals Why Roy loves this book

Although skin is highly visible and a good indicator of health, habits, and age, its complexity and significance for overall health are often overlooked. Dermatologist, historian, and world traveler, Lyman demystifies the body’s largest organ.

He explains commonly encountered conditions such as blushing, goosebumps, and itching. With engaging stories, Lyman also informs about rarely encountered conditions, past and present, that illustrate the amazing capacity of the skin to fend off infection, dehydration, and other perils of the outside world as well as assaults from within.

Additionally, skin is rich with social and psychological significance. You will be compelled to take better care of your body’s wrapping having read the book. 

By Monty Lyman ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Remarkable Life of the Skin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

- Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2019
- A Sunday Times 'MUST READ'
- 'An exciting introduction to a little-known microscopic universe.' Sunday Times
- 'A seriously entertaining book.' Melanie Reid, The Times
- As read on RADIO 4's BOOK OF THE WEEK
_______________

How does our diet affect our skin? What makes the skin age? And why can't we tickle ourselves?

Providing a cover for our delicate and intricate bodies, the skin is our largest, fastest growing and yet least understood organ. We see it, touch it and live in it every day. It's a habitat…


Book cover of The Magic in Me

Maia Haag Author Of My Very Own Name

From my list on personalized bedtime storybooks.

Why am I passionate about this?

Maia Haag is the president and co-founder of I See Me! Personalized Books & Gifts. She had the idea to write her own personalized children’s book while on maternity leave. She and her husband, who is a graphic designer, published My Very Own Name, which launched their company. Maia has written over ten engaging, uniquely personalized stories that make each child feel special. She’s even written a personalized book for dog lovers If My Dog Could Talk—based on her own family pet!

Maia's book list on personalized bedtime storybooks

Maia Haag Why Maia loves this book

It’s more important than ever for young children to learn to value and celebrate what makes each of us unique and different. This personalized story teaches your child to value what makes him or her special. The story also teaches your child to love and appreciate the diversity that children across the world bring to make the world a vibrant place: different languages that we speak, hobbies that we have, various skin tones, different hairstyles, and different ways that we love other people. 

By Timi Bliss , Kamala Nair (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Magic in Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Sealed

Anna McFarlane Author Of Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing through the Mirrorshades

From my list on body horror birth.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in medical humanities at the University of Leeds in England and I’m currently writing a book about the portrayal of traumatic pregnancy in fantastic literature (science fiction, horror, fantasy…). ‘Medical humanities’ is a field of study that looks at medical issues using the tools of the humanities, so it encompasses things like history of medicine, bioethics, and (my specialty) literature and medicine. Thinking about literature through the lens of traumatic pregnancy has led me to some fascinating, gory, and philosophical books, some of which I’m including on this list. 

Anna's book list on body horror birth

Anna McFarlane Why Anna loves this book

The unnamed protagonist of this book is a pregnant woman who has recently moved to the isolated Australian outback with her (pretty useless) husband. The couple have fled the city in part because of our narrator’s fear of a novel pandemic that is sweeping the land. As her pregnancy develops, skin cells replicating inside her body, the narrator fears that her fetus may harbour the virus.

This virus really speaks to my interest in difficult, gory pregnancies and births: cutis is an illness that causes the skin cells to hyperactively replicate, sealing over the body’s orifices and suffocating or starving its victims.

 While this book has a Wicker Man-style horror of small-town life, I particularly appreciate the way that its dystopian setting reflects and distills the anxieties that many women really experience during pregnancy. 

By Naomi Booth ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sealed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sealed is a gripping modern fable on motherhood, a terrifying portrait of ordinary people under threat from their own bodies

Heavily pregnant Alice and her partner Pete are done with the city. Alice is haunted by rumors of a skin-sealing epidemic starting to infect the urban population. She hopes their new remote mountain house will offer safety, a place to forget the nightmares and start their family. But the mountains and their people hold a different kind of danger. With their relationship under intolerable pressure, violence erupts and Alice is faced with the unthinkable as she fights to protect her…


Book cover of The Erotic Poems

Phiroze Vasunia Author Of The Classics and Colonial India

From my list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the ancient Greeks and Romans since my teenage years. I was lucky to have inspiring teachers when I was an undergraduate. Spending a few months in Greece during my university years intensified my love of antiquity, and now I’m a professor who teaches Greek and Latin. One of the things that first drew me to the Greeks and Romans was the sophistication of their poetry, and that’s why I wrote this list.

Phiroze's book list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome

Phiroze Vasunia Why Phiroze loves this book

Ovid is an expert on all kinds of love and doesn’t hesitate to tell you regularly about his expertise. His seduction tips are hopelessly absurd and often offensive. But what a talented poet he is! 

I find the poems riveting even as I accept that his sensibilities are not mine. The poet tells us that he was exiled from Rome during the reign of the emperor Augustus, and I wonder what mischief lies behind this unfortunate experience.  

By Ovid , Peter Green (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Erotic Poems as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This collection of Ovid's poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity. In the Amores, Ovid addresses himself in a series of elegies to Corinna, his beautiful, elusive mistress. The intimate and vulnerable nature of the poet revealed in these early poems vanishes in the notorious Art of Love, in which he provides a knowing and witty guide to sexual conquest - a work whose alleged obscenity led to Ovid's banishment from Rome in AD 8. This volume also includes the Cures for Love, with instructions…


Book cover of My Husband's Ex

Miranda Rijks Author Of You Are Mine

From my list on creepy obsessions that will make your skin crawl.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the author of 26 twisty psychological thrillers, many of which are Amazon bestsellers. I’ve sold over three-quarters of a million books and particularly enjoy writing about dysfunctional families and unpleasant neighbours! Several of my novels touch upon the theme of creepy obsessions, including Violets Are Blue, Deserve To Die, and The Godchild, to name just three. In case you’re wondering I have drawn upon some creepy obsessions I’ve experienced in real life... I’m a full-time author and I’m also an avid reader of thrillers and enjoy nothing more than reading a book with an ending that makes me gasp!

Miranda's book list on creepy obsessions that will make your skin crawl

Miranda Rijks Why Miranda loves this book

I was completely swept up in this one.

I love stories about obsession, and this one delivers in spades: the way the past refuses to stay buried, how the ex’s presence twists every interaction, and the creeping sense that nothing is safe.

The setting in the Scottish Highlands in a storm is described beautifully and dramatically heightens the tension. I adore books that pull me in so deeply I forget the world around me, and this one did exactly that.

Even when the twists veered into the unexpected, I didn’t care—I was too busy racing through the pages, desperate to see how it would all unfold. 

By Rosie Walker ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Husband's Ex as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

‘Thank you for inviting me,' says the woman at the door. I've never seen her before, but she pushes past me and throws her arms around my husband's neck. I'm frozen in shock. Who is she?

When I hear her name, the world begins to spin around me. Alice – my husband's ex. The one who broke his heart. Butmy husband swears he didn't ask her to join us in our remote cottage in the Highlands, so why is she here?

One of them is lying to me. Shivers run up my spine as I think about my two little…


Book cover of Girl in the Dark: A Memoir of a Life Without Light

Sarah L. Sanderson Author Of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate

From my list on memoirs to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I chose to study creative nonfiction during my MFA program so I could learn what makes great memoirs work, but I first fell in love with the genre as a teenager, when I picked up Angela’s Ashes off my mom’s bedside table. I’m grateful for the way memoir gives me a window into the lives of people of other races, religions, abilities, experiences, and even other centuries. While my book The Place We Make isn’t only a memoir—it’s a blend of memoir and historical biography—it was my desire to both understand the view through my research subject’s eyes, and analyze how I was seeing the world myself, that drove me to write it.

Sarah's book list on memoirs to see the world through someone else’s eyes

Sarah L. Sanderson Why Sarah loves this book

I have been telling people about Girl in the Dark ever since I read it eight years ago. More than that—I feel like part of me has still been in Anna Lyndsey’s blackout-curtained room, with heavy tape sealing out every crack of light, ever since then.

I had never heard of her condition, which causes extremely painful sensitivity to the smallest amount of light. Lyndsey describes her physical symptoms with vivid detail, but it’s her attention to the psychological effects of being forced to withdraw from virtually all human society that makes this such a jaw-dropping read. 

By Anna Lyndsey ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Girl in the Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Haunting, lyrical, unforgettable, Girl in the Dark is a brave new memoir of a life without light.

     Anna Lyndsey was young and ambitious and worked hard; she had just bought an apartment; she was falling in love. Then what started as a mild intolerance to certain kinds of artificial light developed into a severe sensitivity to all light. 
     Now, at the worst times, Anna is forced to spend months on end in a blacked-out room, where she loses herself in audiobooks and elaborate word games in an attempt to ward off despair. During periods of relative remission, she can venture…


Book cover of Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race
Book cover of The Colors of Us
Book cover of Happy in Our Skin

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