Brown Is Beautiful

In a lyrically narrated picture book that centers the titular color, Kelkar (Bindu’s Bindis) follows intergenerational members of a brown-skinned family walking out-of-doors and beholding brown-hued elements of a changing landscape. Across the spreads, a line asserting a quality of the shade (“Brown is strong”) is followed by a related observational rhyming line about the natural world (“Tiny ants lifting a weight/ Rumbling train transporting freight”). Though the lines don’t always scan, it is through this lens that the family members—the child carrying a camera—encounter a wild mustang with a shimmering mane (“Brown is beautiful”), gnarled roots supporting a large tree (“Brown is stable”), a protective mama bear (“Brown is brave”), a striated canyon (“Brown is wonder”), and more. And as the trio returns home, where the child’s apparent parents arrive with a new baby in tow, brown represents both loving family and “potential./ A new life crying out.” In lustrous autumnal hues, debut illustrator Sofi’s rich digital art captures a variety of natural landscapes via images both majestic and familiar, and ends with scrapbook pages from the family’s outing. Back matter includes an author’s note and scrapbooking directions. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Oct.)