Picture book celebrates joy of being Dominican

 

If Dominican Were a Color

Written by Sili Recio and illustrated by Brianna McCarthy

Denene Millner Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020

“If Dominican Were a Color” is a gorgeous picture book about the colors of the Dominican Republic. The author says her goal in writing the book is to encourage black children to love the color of their skin no matter what shade it is.

The story is told in lyrical, rhyming prose. “If Dominican were a color…” it begins.

“It would be the sunset in the sky, blazing red and burning bright.

The shade of cinnamon in your cocoa, the drums beating so fast, they drive you loco.”

The author Sili Recio goes on to list her grandma’s mahogany skin and her other grandma’s yellow tint, shades of orange in the sunrise, deep green tints of palm trees, and neutral browns of lips and café con leche. Later, she refers to the curls and kinks of her hair, the blue-black of dreams, and all the seasons of the year.

 She also makes more poetic references to the color of swaying hips, neighbors’ chatter, a Dominican accent, games of hopscotch and jacks, and the roar of the ocean in the deep of night.

She includes several Spanish words in italics, maiz (corn) and amarillo (yellow).

Brianna McCarthy’s mixed media illustrations are stunning in their bold use of color to portray the beauty of the Dominican people and their land. “The lush foliage, the impossibly blue skies, and the otherworldly pinks and oranges spring off the page with joy and verve," writes a Kirkus reviewer. 

Just as Recio mentions her grandmothers’ different skin tones in the text, McCarthy depicts Dominican people in all shades from white to all hues of brown.

In the author’s note at the back of the book, Recio writes that she grew up in the Dominican Republic surrounded by family and friends in all tones of brown. She was showered with love and taught to love herself and “appreciate the skin she was in.”

She and her mother are both “java,” she writes, a term used on the island to describe people with light-colored skin and black features. Her father and sisters are as dark as Embajador chocolate, a Dominican brand of dark chocolate. As children, she and her sisters thought all of their skin colors were beautiful.

But as she grew up, she learned that others thought it was better to have lighter skin and insulted those with darker skin. She found this prejudice in her native country and after she moved to the United States.

Recio says she wrote this book “for the little boys and girls who felt as if they did not belong because of their dark complexions or curly hair texture or the width of their noses,” she writes. “This is for those who’ve been told they are ugly simply because they wear their African ancestors’ beauty on their faces and in their hair.”

“If Dominican Were a Color” is published by Denene Millner Books, a new imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. The imprint, which launched in the spring of 2020, is directed by Denene Millner, an award-winning journalist and bestselling Afro-American author. The imprint publishes books by African American authors for readers of all ages.

About the Author

Sili Recio is an Afro-Dominican storyteller. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rollins College. She lives in Florida with her daughter, whose nickname is the Frog Princess. This is her first picture book. Visit her at SiliRecio.com.

About the Illustrator

Brianna McCarthy is a mixed media visual communicator and self-taught artist interested in the issues of beauty, stereotypes, and representation. She works in masking and performance art, fabric collage, traditional media, and installation pieces. She lives in Trinidad and Tobago. This is her debut picture book. Visit her at BriannaMcCarthy.com.