A groundbreaking poetry book, enlarged and newly reillustrated by award-winning poet Arnold Adoff and Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Arnold Adoff's 1973 poem black is brown is tan, featuring the "first interracial family in children's books," according to the publisher, appears here with Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully's new watercolors. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Ages 2-6. With the recent death of beloved children's author Virginia Hamilton, this newly illustrated version of her husband's 1973 poem is especially moving with its lyrical celebration of an interracial family like their own. Children everywhere will love the simple, joyful rhythmic words in Adoff's signature «shaped speech» style, with McCully's beautiful dancing watercolors that show the contemporary family (computers in the home), loving and happy together through the seasons. Mom is brown skinned; Dad is blond; the two young children are the colors of both their parents. The light-filled scenes are idyllic, even when a parent gets red in the face («I puff and yell you into bed»). They read and sing together, work in the garden, play on the beach, and tell stories with granny white and grandma black. Adults will be interested in the biographical note: Adoff and McCully's 1973 version was the first children's book about an interracial family. In 1960, when Adoff and Hamilton were married, their interracial union violated segregation laws in 28 states. Adoff says this is an «enduring song» to their two now adult children. Hazel Rochman. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.