Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color

Different Differenter is a beautifully-illustrated, full-colour, activity book for children that thoughtfully addresses everyday skin colour consciousness (and bias) in a way that’s easy to understand.

Children’s rich observations and questions about colour, caste, race elicit accurate yet straightforward responses. Jyoti’s art-and-craft-based book takes you on a playful and creative discovery to find answers that work for you and your family—while creatively introducing facts of history and 15-plus new words. Make art. Perform a play for the nanas when they’re in town. Eat a yummy homemade dessert. Ooh! and aah! about how each member of the family has a different skin colour.

Utilize this educational tool that sets the context for the hard conversations about self-awareness, colour, discrimination, and identity. Subjects included in the book are biology about skin (melanin, genes, adaptation); culturally-related aspects (food, art practices, region/ethnicity); colourism’s social impact (bullying, media bias) and solutions (bystander intervention, activism, and media literacy).

Illustrated by Tarannum Pasricha, Different Differenter reflects the world of the child, in all its diverse exuberance. The book’s creators have worked hard to spawn a visual culture that centres cultures and children of colour. Do away with the rhetoric, the baggage of taboo topics and political correctness! And lead the dialogue with your children and help them embrace the values of social justice and equity.