Why?
A Conversation about Race
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A piercing picture book about racial injustice from a child’s perspective from Taye Diggs and Shane Evans.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, my sweet boy."
"Why are those people shouting?"
"Our people are shouting because we need to be heard. We need to be heard."
Why? is a question asked by children daily, and in this striking and timely story, it begins a straightforward and challenging conversation between children of color and the adults in their lives.
Why are the buildings burning? Why are people marching? Why are they crying? Taye Diggs has written a beautiful, powerful, and poignant story that peers through the eyes of a child as they struggle to understand why these events are happening.
Why? distills the conversations many children and adults are having about race, injustice, and anger in communities throughout our country, and gives them context that young readers can connect with. Heartfelt and deeply piercing illustrations from Shane W. Evans will leave a lasting impact on readers of any age. One that will hopefully lead to more conversations, change, and peace within our own communities and the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the previous collaborators' (Chocolate Me!) rhythmic picture book, several Black children each query an elder about instances of protesting ("Why are those people shouting?"), a vigil ("Why are those people crying?"), and marching ("Why are those people marching?") shown in illustrations. The queries highlight a bigger movement, as well as the racism and injustice behind the gatherings: "Our people are marching because we have been stomped on and stepped over for way too long." The q&a format and a resultant refrain of the children responding "OH" keep the pace consistent, building to the question, "Why are those buildings burning?"—"Sometimes buildings must burn./ The buildings burn for us./ The anger burning those/ buildings is us," Diggs writes—and a child's call to prayer for faith, love, and peace. Though the explanation behind the fire feels insufficiently contextualized for the book's stated age range, Evans's surreally colored, fluid illustrations add depth and emotion to this intergenerational narrative with a hopeful ending. Ages 3–6.
