Los colores del cielo

K-Gr 2–A boy and his mother contemplate loving and accepting people of all races in this Spanish-language picture book. A young boy expresses to his mother that he doesn’t like the new boy in his class. When his mother inquires why, the boy replies, “porque es marrón” (because he is brown-skinned). She inquires: Do you know his favorite food? Does he have a mom and a dad? Has he treated anyone badly? These questions make him realize that, although his classmate is like him in many ways, he dislikes him simply because his skin is different. Then, he and his mother think of brown things that her son likes, as a basis for comparison---chocolate, his baseball mitt---and he realizes that his reasons for disliking his classmate are unfounded and unjust. They look up at the sky together, realizing that the sky is sometimes blue, but not always. Sometimes, the sky is black, “pero sigue siendo el cielo” (but it’s still the sky), and at night, the stars shine even more beautifully against the black sky---imparting the message that even though something is a different color, it is equally beautiful. Colorful, cartoonlike illustrations emulate patience and affection between the mother and son, and while the book’s intention is favorable overall, some of the comparisons may strike readers as a bit awkward.