Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Remember the messages we used to give children? "Don't judge a book by it's cover." "It's cool to be kind." "You matter." Those aren't the messages of this book. This book tells you that your skin color is the most important thing about you and will define you for the rest of your life. If you're white, you are bad. If you are black, you have no agency, and your life will be bad because of the white people. If you meet a police officer, they are scary and will probably hurt you. Your parents are clueless and probably conservative, and you will need to disavow them and spend your life as an activist because the entire world is a terrible place to live in -- full of oppression and danger.  I can't imagine thinking these messages will do anything but increase feelings of anxiety, guilt, shame and depression in children.  There are better ways to fight racism. Positive ways. Begin by focusing less on things that children have no control over (like skin color) and more on positive behaviors that everyone can do: kindness, doing the right thing, being polite, etc.  This kind of book is trendy right now, but we don't need trendy. We need to teach children that they matter -- whether they are black OR white. That they are the agents of their own destiny. That the world is full of beauty and wonder, and while things aren't perfect, we've made incredible changes and continue to make improvements day by day. That there are positive ways to create change that don't involve shaming or inducing feelings of guilt.  I do NOT recommend this book.