Review: The Skin You Live In Is a Kids’ Book for Today by Two Chicagoans
“It’s a celebration of skin of all colors and a way to teach kids that we’re all ‘special and different and just the same, too,’ no matter the color of our outer layer.”
The Skin You Live In
By Michael Tyler
Illustrations by David Lee Csicsko
Chicago Children’s Museum
The Skin You Live In, a book targeted to 4- to 8-year olds, can be enjoyed by teens and adults as well. It was published in 2005 and reprinted frequently ever since. But with grownup books on white privilege and anti-racism on the best-seller list, this is the children’s book for 2020. It’s written by Chicago author Michael Tyler, whose bouncy rhymes are illustrated with David Lee Csicsko’s adorable colorful characters. It’s a celebration of skin of all colors and a way to teach kids that we’re all “special and different and just the same, too,” no matter the color of our outer layer.