Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown

by Malathi Michelle Iyengar, Jamel Akib (Illustrations)

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Tan, sienna, topaz, or tamarind? Poet Malathi Michelle Iyengar sees a whole spectrum of beautiful shades of brown. Swirls of henna decorate ocher hands and feet at an Indian wedding. Cinnamon lips smile over a cup of caf con leche. And maple leaves drift like stars onto upturned russet faces in fall.

This warm and inviting poetry collection helps young readers discover that no matter what your skin tone, every shade is beautiful. Jamel Akib's pastel illustrations bring the richness of brown to vivid, varied life.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Cultural, Childrens, Latinx, Asian American

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 2009

About the author

Children’s poet and author Malathi Michelle Iyengar grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She earned a BA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MFA in music at the California Institute of the Arts, and an MA in education at California State University, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[S10_Abby Alley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade Level: 1-5
It was named an honor book in 2009 in the picture book category of the Asian/ Pacific Award for Literature.
Grade Level: K-4

This book is group of poems all about the different shades of brown. Some of the shades are more obvious, like cocoa or tan, and some are uncommon, like ocher and bay. Each poem is titled a different shade of brown and talks about images or objects that share its color. The poems have very strong sensory details, celebrating the brown that children might taste, touch, smell, see, and hear. The overall theme is that brown is a beautiful, delicious, and valuable color to be. Different cultures are subtly referenced in the illustrations and key words throughout the poems. In Coffee, she writes, “Mami in the afternoon quiet, stirring her café con leche,” and in Tamarind she says, “Spicy as supper in Madras, tasty as lunchtime in Mumbai,” representing both Latino and Indian cultures. My favorite poem in the book was the last poem. It puts all the shades on the brown spectrum together, delighting in our diversity. I also enjoyed the author’s note inside the back cover telling the author’s own experience growing to love her own shade of brown.
I thought this collection of poems was more powerful as a whole than as individual poems. Some poems were boring and I felt myself just wanting to get through them, while others resonated with my senses and evoked stronger emotions and images. More often than not the illustrations helped me appreciate and understand the color of the poem as much as, or more than the words did. Although some of the poems refer to Indian and Pakistani culture, I was wondering why it received an honor award from the Asian/ Pacific Literature Award for Literature. There are as many poems that refer to the Asian cultures as there are that refer to African-American, Latino, and Native American cultures. I do however think this book as tremendous value as a whole because of the message is sends to kids that we are all beautiful as we are. There are many other books out there such as The Colors of Us that could easily paired with this in an “all about me” unit in k-2. I think an art teacher could use this book to talk about mixing colors to accomplish the exactness of a shade. A classroom teacher could use it in a writing lesson about word choice – both for choosing the exact word that matches what the writer is trying to say, as well as for writing with words that help a reader conjure up their senses to create mental images. Additionally, for writing I would use it in a poetry unit as a mentor text. Students could choose a crayon to use to create images through their words about that exact color. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and believe it has a lot of value in the elementary classroom.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annotated Bibliography Entry: Tan to Tamarind Poems About the Color Brown by: Malathi Michelle Iyengar

Summary:

This poetry book features collections of poems on the color brown. It basically features either objects that are brown in color (and most objects have some sort of cultural importance) or brown as a skin color, which is what the last poem in the book is about and it is basically a culmination of all the different color browns mentioned in the story. For example there poems about coffee, old picture albums autumn leaves, mountains. These are more ordinary subjects. Then there are other poems about the color of a sari, traditional Indian dresses and cultural food as well so there is a wide mix of poems from more ordinary objects that are brown in color to cultural objects that are brown. So it is a pretty comprehensive selection of poems.

Personal Response:

The poems in this book are beautiful and I love the way the poems sound. A lot of the poems have a great deal of imagery and it really paints a picture of what the poem is trying to say, which I love. The poems do not rhyme, but I feel like it will be appealing to children because of the mental images it produces. You can really feel and imagine the poem. The poems also all begin in the same format and I think children will like that consistency. This book also has a good comprehensive selection of poems ranging from just ordinary objects to more cultural ones so I like that it is so diverse because these poems can be used for a variety of different purposes, such as ELA or even a social justice approach. All in all, the poems are all about diversity (more in terms of the diversity of brown as a color), which is a great subject to teach kids about. Absolutely love this poetry collection and could definitely see myself using it in my future classroom!

Descriptions of Illustrations:

While this book features beautiful poems, it also features beautiful illustrations to accompany them. The illustrations appear to be done in watercolor paints, however I am not positive as art is not my forte. They are beautiful nonetheless. On another note, the illustrations really help paint a picture of what the poem is saying. For some of the poems the illustrations are the only way to understand them because of the wording of some of the poems. So the illustrations are very useful for this book and they effectively illustrate the poems, which will aid in comprehending the overall poem.

Classroom Connections:

There is a lot you can do with these poems, it is so multi-functional! I think these poems could be used to teach students about imagery and as an activity students could write poems in the format of the poems in this collection (as these poems seem to follow the same format) paying close attention to the imagery present in their own poems. I also think these poems could be used to teach about descriptive words and students could use these poems to increase their use of descriptive language. Besides language, these poems could be used to teach students about diversity and students could bring in a cultural object of their own and write their own poems on that object and the students could then present both their cultural object and poem to the class and explaining why it is important to them. Teachers could also teach from a social justice perspective and use this book to discuss the diversity in their classrooms and talk about their skin colors and letting them know that their skin color is beautiful etc. (much like the last poem in the collection). Teachers could also read a poem and have the student draw whatever is in their head (much like the chart board drawing we did for Each Kindness). There is a lot of stuff that can be done to incorporate this book in the classroom and there a lot of activities that teachers could use this collection for.

[Addison Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collection of poetry in the selection “Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown” alludes to a diverse range of cultures through the color brown. The author Mahathi Michelle Lyengar alludes to different cultures and illustrates the beauty of the color brown through different descriptions such as a topaz ring on a mother’s hand, spices of milk-tea, the mountains of the southwest, Henna tattoos at Indian weddings, maple leaves, etc. Lyengar writes her poems utilizing similes, metaphors, and imagery that so beautifully describes the different colors and cultures she is writing about. Each poem illustrates the colors of brown with affection and interest through the different traditions that it relates to. Lyengar effortlessly achieves such a pure, genuine, loving connotation in each of her poems.

“Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown” is a selection which includes fifteen poems that are written in a simple stanza format with an average length of ten to fifteen lines. This book would be most useful for students in grades between third and fifth and can be used in an individual, partner, or read-aloud format. For either format used, it would be important to hold a discussion following the reading. In my classroom I would use this selection to learn about and illustrate similes, metaphors, and imagery as each poem has strong examples of each. I would have students work in table groups or partners and be assigned a poem to document the different forms of figurative language. After identifying the different examples of figurative language in each poem I would have the students make responses of the different meanings of the figurative language and how the author used it to strengthen their writing. To conclude, I would ask students to write their own poem with a shade of brown that they connect to using figurative language. This selection resonated with me because of how inclusive it is and how it could be used to encourage and love my students. This poem book includes diverse cultures with celebration which is something I want to emulate in my classroom.

[Juliet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's Poetry Anthology
Elementary and up

Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown is beautifully illustrated in a watercolor style and celebrates the many shades of brown we see in our friends around us. Each poem is named after a particular shade and describes rich cultural details, like in the poem "Adobe" "soaking yucca leaves" and in "Ocher", "mehendi designs on a bride's hands". Other poems emphasize cocoa, cinnamon and delicious treats. Images represented show strong family connections and happy moments. Poem titles are in a bolded warm cinnamon. The font however is black and is harder to read on the some of the more richly intense illustrations. Illustrations cover the whole page and are varied in perspective.
This is a nice book to talk about for children that brings in wonderful cultural details vividly described. It could be used as a opening for discussions where students can share out about their own lives. Older children could analyze and compare how race and culture are positively portrayed and how that counter narrative is empowering. Tan to Tamarind could also be used in art lessons on portraits to build a strong and proud classroom culture.

[keirsten chaffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry book is so, so beautiful- not only for the illustrations, but for the sweet, gentle words of affirmation for all people with brown skin, brown eyes, & brown hair.

Each poem is written about a different color of brown: nutmeg, tamarind, sienna, topaz, cocoa… you name it & this book has the color & has written about it in such a kind way & related it to something bigger- cultural, such as mehendis or masala or cafe con leche, all the way to personal level things such ws hands, eyes, lips, hair, knees, or arms. This book is clearly written to romanticize being a brown person so that readers will find the beauty of the things they love in themselves & their brownness.

I think my favorite poem in the book was either Sepia, Sandalwood, or Coffee. They were all so beautifully written but these stuck with me & felt extremely powerful.

I love the saying on the back of the book & it would be extremely attention-grabbing for brown-skinned children.

I would absolutely love to find a reason to read this to or with my future students.

I’d give this a 10/5 stars if I could.

[Mercedes Arroyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The genre of the book is poetry. The book has multiple poems about the different shades of brown. The different brown shades all have stories to them that correlate to cultural stories. I love the book because it shows how the color brown is shared amongst all cultures. The book shows a variety of cultures varying from Indian, Hispanic, and Asian. The illustrations correlate to the text and have realistic characters and stories. The illustrations are colorful and the brown shades provide more meaning to the plot. The characters and poems can relate to any child. The story also allows the children to think about a variety of topics. The poems have room for students to critically think about the different perspectives. They can relate their experiences to the poems in the book. They can even compare, contrast, and infer how their lives and lives of friends correlate to the poems in the book. There is a wide diversity represented in the book. The author and illustrator are both represented by the cultural groups mentioned in the book.

[Scarlet Lantigua]

1. This book has won Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Picture Book Honor (2009)
2. This book is appropriate for children 1st - 5th grade
3. This book includes beautifully written poems about different shades of brown. The author utilizes both ordinary objects and cultural objects that depict a shade of brown.
4. The illustrations are colorful and correlate to the text, helping the reader further comprehend the poem.
5. This book can be utilized in a social/emotional learning unit. This would be a great book to share with students when learning about diversity as well as cultures. This is an effective read for fostering an all inclusive classroom. Teachers can assign students to create their very own poems and reflect on their culture.

[ErinTheLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

15 poems, one per spread. Each color describes something ("Sienna" describes the reddish-brown mountains and canyons in a child's southwest homeland, "Bay" describes the brown-black autumn leaves in a city, "Ocher" describes the orange-brown mehendi designs on an Indian bride's hands, and so on. Illustrations of diverse children and adult and diversity is celebrated in the final poem "We are brown. We are beautiful." Terrific book to use in preschool storytime or class lessons for vocabulary (not the whole book but maybe pick a page or two for each session.) Could be useful for poetry, diversity, or colors/brown color.

[Jaden Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown by Malathi Michelle Iyengar is poetry that expresses the beauty in all the many different colors of brown, and encourages children to love themselves for who they are. I would use this book in my future classroom to express to my students that we are all unique and beautiful in our own way. I would also use this book to try and build my students' self-esteem and self-love.

[Faith Livensparger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade 3-4
Genre Poetry
I was pleasantly surprised with all the poems about the shades of brown in the book. The color brown is all around us is important. I especially enjoyed the authors note at the end. I found it very personal that Iyengar shared her struggle with the color of her skin. She shares how the color brown should not be seen as gross or disgusting, but rather it should be celebrated. I think being comfortable in your own skin and embracing your differences is so important and is successfully portrayed in this book.

[Heidi Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book celebrates diversity, which isn't common. Brown skin is considered as beautiful and desired which is not commonly depicted, especially with children's books. The illustrations are very detailed and dream-like. They are realistic but have a misty sense. Many of the images are double paged full spreads with the typography in a corner to tie into the image.

[Kelsey Kitchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book uses great discribing words to descibe things that are brown. They also use it to discribe family members and what they are like. This is a good book for children because it talks about the color brown and shows them how many things that they see daily are brown.

[Brianna Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with poems about all the different shades of brown and how they are each unique in their own different ways. This book teaches students to love themselves for who they are and to embrace their differences in each other.

[Cameryn Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this poem. Im not a huge fan of poems but I liked the message and deliverance in this book. It shoes that the every different shade of brown is unique and beautiful in different ways just as people are.

[Neha Thakkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely. Poems about different shades of brown, including tamarind and ocher. Illustrations that highlight the wonder of each color and culture.

[PottWab Regional Library]

A

[Patrycia Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tan to Tamarind by Malathi Michelle Iyengar and illustrated by Jamel Akib consists of a series of poems that express an appreciation for individuals of all cultures with brown skin. Even the illustrations present in the book consist of subtle, warm colors that all blend with the color brown. Some of the titles of the poems included in this book are Tan, Topaz, Cocoa, Beige, Sandalwood, Coffee, Nutmeg, and Brown. One of the unique elements of this book is the way in which it provides a positive description of the color brown, which can help children of minorities understand and appreciate the qualities of their physical attributes.
This book is most welcoming to middle school aged students. I would definitely recommend this book to an educator who has a classroom of minority students. This book conveys an appreciation for the color brown, and the illustrations of this book adequately accommodates the message that is being delivered.

[Demi Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tam to Tamarind is a poetry book about different types of browns. It is the authors idea that children should be appreciative about what they see when they look in the mirror. I enjoyed this poetry book because it was also telling a story at the same time as describing each shade of brown. At the end of the book it talks about how each color brown is different, but all of them are beautiful in their own way. This book is illustrated beautifully and has use of many colors, but especially different shades of brown. I enjoyed this book because I think it is great for children who have low self -esteem or maybe for children who are unfamiliar with other cultures and races. However, since the poems are all about the color brown, it gets slightly repetitive to read. If there was one thing I had to change about this book, it would be to make the illustrations more vibrant, though I also feel the dullness of the pictures is what makes the book.

[S10_Jessica Oster · Rating 4 out of 5]

format: picture book, poetry
age: grades 1-5
protagonist: n/a

Iyengar, M. (2009). Tan to tamarind: Poems about the color brown. San Franciso, CA: Children's Book Press.
In a celebration of the color brown, Iyengar addresses the many different yet beautiful shades of brown skin through free verse poetry. Each poem discusses a different color of brown and weaves in a unique flavor of a culture with that particular color of brown skin (i.e. “Ocher brown./…Like mehendi designs/on a bride’s hands.”). With an enchanting rhythms and rhymes, this book would lend itself well to cultural diversity or poetry classes. Students could be challenged to write a poem celebrating their skin color and culture. (Grades 6-10)

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Brown.
My face.
Milk-tea brown.

I am brown. I am beautiful.

Brown.
Your face.
Sienna brown or cocoa brown,
cafe con leche brown or radiant ocher brown."

This book of poetry by Malathi Michelle Iyengar is beautiful. She writes poems about all the shades of brown from sienna to cocoa and all the other wonderful colors of brown skin.

This is a great read aloud for school age children and it's also wonderful that children can see that they are represented in books.

**
At the end of the book, the author writes that as a young child she was picked on for the color of her skin. And as she grew older she found books about being brown and being proud.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Malathi Michelle Iyengar, she wrote "Tan to Tamarind: Poems about the Color Brown" because when she was a child, other children made fun of her brown skin. Today she is proud of her heritage, and wants other children to be proud too. Sienna, bay, ocher, sepia; these are some of the colors described in the poems. Jamel Akib's illustrations beautifully complement the poems as they show all the different faces and shades of brown. "Tan to Tamarind" received Honorable Mention for Picture Books in 2009-2010 from the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. This book would work well both in a poetry unit or a unit on diversity/multiculturalism.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an Asian/Pacific Picture Book Honor award winner in 2010. There are fifteen poems all about different shades of brown. The author was made fun of as a child because of her skin color. Later in life she learned to celebrate it, because she realized the wonderful things like coffee, tea, cinnamon, and caramel that are brown. These poems are the result. The are also beautifully illustrated.

The poems are good for grades K-3. You could use them for talking about classmates differences.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the wife of a proud Hispanic whose three children hold a rich history on both sides of the family, I found this book hard to rate. While I applaud the intent of the book (children should recognize themselves in the books they read, they should see themselves as valuable and beautiful), I was torn. What would happen if I wrote a book entitled White To Pale?

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the theme of this book and the use of different colors of brown, the celebration of different colors, and just the warmth and beauty of the way brown is portrayed.

[Kuwana]

Humanity: Positive self esteem for people with dark skin.

[Lauren White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for grades 1-5

[Crista Goluch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asian Pacific American Literature Award (APALA) 2009-2010 Picture Book Honorable Mention

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

2010 Americas Commended Title

Great adjectives and references to culture