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Starred Review: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Manushkin offers a cheeky meditation on the everyday
miraculousness of skin, with a biracial family at the
center of her story. “It’s terrific to have skin,” she
muses. “It keeps the outsides out/ and your insides in.”
Skin is also something we all have in common, regardless
of age, color, or whether it’s adorned with “freckles/
or birthmarks/ or dimples.” With plenty of sentimental
books about belonging available, a fun angle on the ties
that bind members of the human family is welcome; the
premise inspires several quirky observations to keep
readers intrigued, including a shout-out to scabs as “a
perfect seal.” Following a light-skinned mother and her
three children (who share their father’s brown skin),
Tobia creates an expansive, multicultural cast of
urbanites enjoying themselves at a park, at the public
pool, and at a boisterous block party. It’s freewheeling
fun.
KIRKUS REVIEWS
More than skin deep, this rhyming paean to diversity
offers readers an array of families of all colors and
orientations, living and loving one another in a vibrant
city setting.This celebration of skin not only extols
the beauty and value of various skin colors, but also
teaches the importance of skin as an essential body
part: “It keeps the outsides out / and your insides in.”
Park, public-pool, and block-party scenes allow readers
to luxuriate in a teeming city where children of all
colors, abilities, and religions enjoy their families
and neighbors. The author and illustrator do not simply
take a rote, tokenistic approach to answering the cry
for diverse books; the words and pictures depict a
much-needed, realistic representation of the statement
“it takes a village to raise a child” when a child skins
her knee and many rush to her aid and comfort. Tobia
creates sheer joy with her depictions of everything from
unibrows, dimples, and birthmarks.The combination of
lovingly humorous illustrations and infectious rhymes
will cause little ones and their families to pore over
this book again and again.
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
In this picture book Manushkin celebrates the different
aspects of skin. The large illustrations depict a
mixed-race family as they interact with a delightful
array of diverse babies, preschoolers, and their parents
in their urban neighborhood. Adults kiss baby feet, hold
little ones aloft, and snuggle with them. The park and
neighborhood scenes include a girl in a wheelchair and
Muslim and Orthodox Jewish families enjoying themselves
outdoors. The story comes full circle, beginning with a
baby, happy in its “brand-new” skin, and ending with
parents and tired children, all “happy in [their] skin,”
coming home after celebrating with “bouquets of people”
at a block party. VERDICT A delightful feel-good story
that will be welcome in most collections.
BOOKLIST
There’s lots to like about Manushkin’s charming picture
book, starting with the quirky idea of celebrating our
largest of organs! Across the pages of this endearing
book, smiling families frolic in parks and playgrounds
of a bustling, urban, multicultural neighborhood. They
are happy because of, not despite, the differences in
their skin colors: “bouquets of babies sweet to hold:
cocoa brown, cinnamon, and honey gold.” A bright palette
of colors adds to the liveliness of the people
populating the book’s pages—people with sweet, loving
faces and outstretched arms to hold babies and reach for
friends, ensuring skin-on-skin contact. Happy in Our
Skin paints a picture of an ideal world that recognizes
the value of diversity and shuns color blindness—a
positive message for ears of every age and color.
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