I will be honest, I’m not sure what to think of this book. Violet is purple. Her mom is red, and her dad is blue. She is a little bit of both of them. She never thinks about any of this until people are confused by her blue dad. I know it's supposed to a book on being yourself, but i think some of it gets mixed up. It’s a bit convoluted. I think I need to hear others opinions on this title. I will say, I do like the artwork, as it’s not typical children’s picture book artwork.

All the way to school, Violet’s heart was pounding. She could see all the kids making their way to the front doors. There were red kids, yellows kids, and blue kids…and then there was Violet.

I am always on the lookout for books that promote diversity and those that deal with issues children may experience in a non-confrontational way. This book is beautifully illustrated and has an important message for children (and adults!) about who you are inside being the most important thing about you, not the colour of your skin. We are all more similar than we are different, yet as a species we seem to spend and inordinate amount of time focusing on those differences.

This book deals with a complex issue in a straightforward way without becoming too preachy. I would have liked it if there had been other children in her school who were also mixed – green, orange and purple children would have made a really clear point about the diversity of the human race.

Overall, a beautiful picture books which presents ample opportunity for discussion with children.

‘People come in a whole rainbow of beautiful colors, but Violet, you shouldn’t worry about being like other people. Just be yourself. People should like you for who you are, not what color you are.’

What I liked: The message about diversity being something to be celebrated rather than hidden, the style of the illustrations, the relationship between Violet and her mother and how she explains that people come in all colours of the rainbow.

Even better if: This is a very minor point, but do wish it had the UK spelling (colour rather than color) as many children in the age range I teach get confused when the spellings change despite me explaining that US and UK English have differences. It would also have been nice to see green, orange and other purple children in her school!

How you could use it in your classroom: Brilliant book to share with young children to introduce the idea of cultural diversity being something positive, particularly important when issues of race, religion and immigration seem to be dominating headlines all over the world. I will be sharing this with my class, along with other books promoting diversity and mutual understanding. If you wanted, you could link it in with an Art unit on colour-mixing, talking about how mixing colours allows us to accurately represent all the wonderful colours around us. You could also debate if one colour is more important than any others, perhaps reading ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ too.

I absolutely love this sweet book. It is well-written and timely.

Violet is a picturebook written by Tania Duprey Stehlik and illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovanic. Violet is happy that her father has come to pick her up after her first day at a new school. But as she races over to meet him, one of the other kids asks, How come your Dad is blue and you're not?" Violet has never even thought about this before. Her mother is red, and her father is blue -- so why isn't she red or blue? Why is she purple? Upset and confused, Violet goes to her mother. Using paints, her mother shows her that when you combine red and blue, you get violet! Like many people in the world, Violet is a beautiful mix of colors. But color isn't really that important. After all, it is what's inside us that counts.

Violet is a delightful picturebook that explores race and being different. Violet is different, her mom is red and her father is blue- but she she is violet. She is worried about being different and faces questions from classmates. I liked how her mom calmly and simply explained, and the author is able to express the idea that people are people. It is not color (or race, religion, ability, or anything else) that define us- it is what is inside us that makes us who we are. The illustrations are wonderfully colorful and quirky, making the story more endearing. I really enjoyed the book and think it is an important one. This could be a great tool for families and classrooms, in fact I think everyone should read books like this- because understanding each other how simple the solution (if only everyone could live it) is important for us all. But most importantly, everyone should be able to see themselves in the books they read, and this gives so many children a chance to see themselves (and their families) in print.

This was a cute story of a mixed race girl! I loved the story and the illustrations were really nice!

4★ #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Why do I look like I do? What kid hasn’t looked in a mirror and wondered why something about them is different from the rest of the family? But it probably doesn’t occur to most kids to think that somebody else would notice that.

This is a colourful, appealing picture book with a simple story about Violet, a young girl on her first day going to a new school. Her mother drops her off and waves goodbye (red hand out the car window).

"All the way to school, Violet’s heart was pounding. She could see all the kids making their way to the front doors. There were red kids, yellow kids, and blue kids…and then there was Violet."

They have fun, share lunches and play.

[My Goodreads review shows a screenshot of Violet’s schoolmates.]

Kids in schools come from all sorts of backgrounds, and while they aren’t quite as vibrant shades as Violet and her new friends, they represent today’s classrooms.

[My Goodreads review shows a photo of multiracial kids with the caption "A beautiful bunch of real kids".]

American President Barack Obama is the famous offspring of a very white American mother and a very black Kenyan father. He came out a handsome, half-and-half blend, like Violet.

[My Goodreads review shows photos of Obama as a child with his parents.]

Dad comes to pick her up and waves out the window – a blue hand, this time. A classmate asks why she isn’t blue.

”Mom was red. Dad was blue. So, why wasn’t she red or blue? Come to think of it, all her red friends had red parents. Her yellow friends had yellow parents. Her blue friends had blue parents. So, why was she purple?”

Violet’s mother explains when you mix red paint with blue paint you get VIOLET!

The next day at school she says proudly,

“My mom is red, my dad is blue, and I,” she said, grinning...”
[My Goodreads review shows a screenshot of Violet saying. "am Violet!"

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Story Press for providing a copy for review. The words are very simple, the illustrations are terrific, and I’m delighted to see this being promoted again to make sure it gets added to the growing library of Diverse Books.
http://weneeddiversebooks.org/

This adorable children's story explores the challenging reality of having mixed heritage, by delving into the interaction with school peers who may look differently in an authentic manner.

Violet is not up to her first day at a new school. She finally braces herself and off she goes into unknown terrain. She worries the kids won't like and accept her. Luckily she gets through the day and waits for her dad to pick her up. When he finally arrives a boy startles her by asking a question that Violet had never even considered before.

Is that your dad? "How come your dad is blue and you're not?"

Violet opens her eyes and looks around the kids in the schoolyard. Every kid there is either yellow, red or blue. Why in the world is she violet? Oh my!

She becomes upset and confused and goes to her mother to ask her why. Her wise, loving mom takes paints and mixes the red paint with the blue paint which makes the beautiful colour violet. She tenderly tells her...

"Well, I am red and daddy is blue and you, my beauty, are a bit of us both."

"Watch," she said, "if you take red and mix in a little blue, you get a lovely purply - violet."


She tells her daughter that there are many mixed children resulting in a whole rainbow of beautiful colours. She assures her that she is amazing and to be proud of herself. People should like her for who she is not the colour she is. From that time on Violet celebrates the colour she is living in... PURPLE... my favourite colour too.

I love the idea of this book, that Violet is so-called because she has a blue parent, and a red parent, and together they make a violet child. This is a really child-friendly way of addressed the fact that people have different heritages and therefore may look different and be of mixed race. I love the last page, where Violet assertively and proudly tells us: "I am Violet!"

Aesthetically, I found that there was so much going on in the illustrations of each double page spread, that it detracted from the text quite a lot, however this means there is plenty for children to look at whilst their parent is reading the text to them. On the whole this book sends a great message.

Violet is concerned about making friends at school and all goes well until the end of the day when a schoolmate questions why her father is blue and she is not. Telling her mom about what happened, her mom explains that she is red, her dad is blue and Violet is a lovely combination of both.

This is not a complex, deep story about mixed racial children, but a nice launching pad for further discussion. Self-acceptance is explained in a simple, understandable way for young children. The illustrations are whimsical and colorful. I wish the children were more animated rather than flat in their expression.

This is a wonderful book for children who identify as being different from their classmates and friends. It celebrates differences and acceptance of individual identity. The pictures are colorful and fun and slightly *different* than what you may have encountered before... Just like Violet.

~Disclaimer~
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
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This book is about a little girl named Violet. She is nervous about making friends in her new school. Her day goes by quickly and she ends up having fun. When her father picks her up one of her class mates asks her why her dad is blue and she isn't. Violet doesn't know how to answer, she had never thought about it before. At her school there were red kids, blue kids, and yellow kids. There weren't any purple kids like her. When she asks her mother about it she is told that she is purple because she had a little bit of both of her parents in her. Her mom is red and her dad is blue. Her mother mixes red and blue paint together to show her that it makes purple-violet. She learns that there are a lot of mixed people in the world too.

"People come in a whole rainbow of beautiful colours. People should like you for who you are, not who colour you are."

I really loved this book. I like how it teaches about everyone in the world being different colours and races. People should like you for who you are not what colour you are. Children don't notice what colour they are until someone points it out for them. Violet has a red parent and a blue parent but didn't even notice their colours. Once pointed out to her she begins to feel that she is different and doesn't fit in. This is a very good book to read to any child not just a child that comes from two different backgrounds. It will teach them that everyone is different and that's OK.
I loved that the illustrations were so colourful. Every page had so many things to take in and look at.
This book takes a complex issue and uses a simple way to explain it to children.


I love love loved this book!!!

5/5 ⭐

I can really see this book being of benefit to families where they have a mixed race family member, I hadn't really thought before about how hard it may be for them to feel that they fit in and this book deals with the subject really well. It shows them that whilst they are different (in Violet's case her dad is blue and her mum is red and she is the only one like that at school with mixed parents), she is unique and a mixture of both her mum and dad and loved just as much as everyone else, 4 stars

Sooner or later a child of a mixed race couple is going to run into the things that Violet does on her first day of school. Children are used to certain things, and when those certain things are different, be it food, or clothes, or skin color, they have questions.

Told in a very easy to understand story, Violet learns that when you mix Red with Blue you come up with Violet, and that is why her mother is red, and her father is blue, and she is violet.

Oh, if only the rest of the world could take this as the official explanation and noth ave hissy fits about race.

Cute book for libraries and for homes, to introduce the concept of mixed race.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.