Brown Beez

Now you can buy positive identity children's books all in one place at Brown Beez!

I've always wanted to be able to quickly find the books I need for my children, but it's always a tedious time-consuming activity of hunting through hundreds of pages looking for those elusive books where brown-skinned children take center stage. My sister gave me the nudge to do something about it, so together we've created Brown Beez, a one-stop shop for positive identity products. We are starting with books, and hope to expand to sell other great gifts for children.
Let us know what you think by posting your comments here!

PROGRESS UPDATE: We go to France!!

Hooray, we managed to take a trip to France this half-term! This is only the 3rd time we've made it to France since the kids were born - it's expensive and we have other travel commitments like visiting or travelling with family, but it's so important for the kids that we try to go whenever we can.

Our 1st trip to France was to stay with their granny, auntie, uncle and cousins in a villa in Carcassonne when they were aged 3 and 1. From a holiday point of view, this was three weeks of heaven, relaxing by the pool, visiting the gorgeous walled old town, sampling croissants from the local boulangerie and cheese from the market. But language-wise, there was almost zero exposure, as we were with our English-speaking family all the time, so could've been anywhere in the world! I bought a ton of French children's books though :-)

Our 2nd trip was more successful from a linguistic point of view, as this time we stayed with a French family we'd met in the UK. The children were now 6 and 4, and they played with their friends in a mix of French and English - the eldest three spoke only French, while Pan-Pan chose English. So we were very happy for the French exposure, but also a bit concerned that Pan-Pan wasn't joining in in French.

This, our 3rd trip, has been a resounding francophone success! We spent a weekend with the same French family in a beautiful cottage with stables near Boulogne (see Schmoo feeding the horses above), before heading off to live in their flat in Paris for a week while they came to stay in our home in the UK. This time, the children are 7 and (nearly!) 5, and they all played together in French, music to my ears! 2 years of immersion school has made a huge difference to Pan-Pan's confidence in the language and, while he still favours English where he has the choice, he is now very happy to talk French too.

For our week in Paris, I was keen to learn from our 1st trip, where being surrounded by English family meant very little French exposure. And since nothing gets kids talking a language like wanting to talk to other monolingual kids, I booked them in for 2 holiday workshops! - a colouring-in session at the local library and a cooking session. I was really hoping for a drama workshop - lots of talking French there! - but couldn't seem to track one down for the exact dates and location we needed. As it turned out the 2 sessions I booked were very useful. At the colouring-in session, my kids were first placed in a separate room from all the others, because we'd booked individually and they'd come in a group. But a quiet word with the organiser sorted it out and they were soon chatting and laughing away with the other children - perfect :-) For the cooking workshop, the organiser heard us all talking English as we arrived and unfortunately for us spoke fluent English herself and seemed keen to use it! She asked Pan-Pan (in French) which language he preferred. He had a long think (he takes all such questions very seriously) and finally answered (in French!) that he prefers English. I immediately butted in and said he speaks both very well, and before we left I noted that she was talking to him in French. 2 hours later when we came back, they had produced a cordon bleu 3-course meal! and been surrounded by the large group of children chatting in French, so I was very pleased. However, right at the end, the organiser turned to Pan-Pan and spoke to him in English, so I wondered if she'd been doing that off and on during the session. Either way, he got a lot of French exposure (and useful cooking vocab!), but it did make me realise it's best to really stress right at the beginning of any session that you are there partly (or mainly!) for the French and so please to talk only in French with the children!

We are very lucky this year and actually have a 4th trip to France planned at Easter, where the kids are booked into (French-language) ski school. From my experience on this trip, I may just have a quiet word in the ski tutor's ear about please only talking in French with my two!

BILINGUAL MOMENTS: Jeux de mots

My kids' favourite joke at the moment is:

'As-tu un cerf?'

'Non'

'As-tu un veau?'

'Non'

'Alors tu n'as pas de cerveau!'

'Do you have a stag?'

'No'

'Do you have a calf?'

'No'

'Then you don't have a brain!'

Cerf = Stag

Veau = Calf

Cerveau = Brain

Also after years of enjoying the Babapapa books in English, the penny finally dropped at the French school fete that the gorgeous round pink hero is based on candyfloss! (Barbe à Papa, literally 'Daddy's beard', is French for candyfloss).

PROFILE: Aleksander (German & Dutch in the US)

General background

What are the names and ages of your children?
Aleksander, age 2

What languages do you speak and to what level (Basic/Intermediate/Advanced/Fluent)?
I speak German, fluent (non-native). My husband is from the Netherlands and speaks Dutch & English fluently plus advanced German.

What languages are you passing on to your child?
English, German and a tiny bit of Dutch. I decided not to use OPOL. I found I just couldn’t give up my own English culture of words, books, songs, etc. And since my husband is Dutch and didn’t grow up with these things, I knew he wouldn’t be able to supplement. Thus I settled on a compromise of spending half of each day in German. Or at least trying to!

Why have you chosen to raise your child with more than one language?
Even before I started learning a second language, I have always been fascinated by other languages. I’ve always thought it would be such a gift to pass my a language on to my children. Learning from the beginning seems so much easier than waiting until they start teaching it in school – especially here in the US, where they usually wait too long.

How are you passing on the different languages and/or culture?
I speak German with Aleksander. We also read books, sing songs, and watch DVDs. I try to incorporate holiday traditions, too. And I’m looking for a German-speaking babysitter to help reinforce input when I’m not with Aleksander.

Non-native issues

Do you seek to improve your own non-native language and, if so, how?
Speaking German with a baby/toddler has definitely opened my eyes to large holes in my vocabulary. No one teaches you the words for diaper, bib, a thousand different trucks, etc. in school! I try to keep a list of words to look up and make them part of my active vocabulary. I’d love to continue to work more on my German, but mostly I settle for learning new things as I read and sing with Aleksander.

Do you get support for teaching your child from native speakers?
I have a friend who is a native-speaker and also has a son about Aleksander’s age. So that is really helpful. In the future, I will definitely consider some kind of Saturday school (although the teachers aren’t necessarily native-speakers).

Does your child ever teach or correct you?
Aleksander only just started talking, so he’s not correcting me yet!

In terms of your emotional relationship with your child, do you feel speaking in a non-native language adds something, takes something away, or both?
I find it really challenging to keep up the German when things get more emotional – either comforting Aleksander or when I get really frustrated with him! For me, I don’t feel I can comfort him in German the way I can in English. But when I think about it, it probably doesn’t make so much difference to Aleksander. After all, he’s used to me speaking both languages. It just seems so strange to me! And when I get frustrated, I just have trouble accessing all the vocabulary I need.
On the other hand, I feel like speaking German with Aleksander brings us closer. It’s a special bond we can share. And even if it gets hard, I think it’s so worth it to give him this opportunity.

Are there any particular advantages or disadvantages to speaking a non-native language with your child?
Well, obviously, I don’t speak perfect, native German. I wonder sometimes if that will be a problem for Aleksander. Will he pick up my mistakes with grammar or vocabulary? I hope that by offering other input from other German-speakers, DVDs, books, etc. it will compensate.

How have your family and friends – and strangers - reacted to your decision?
I have had nothing but support. It’s wonderful to know our families support and encourage us. We also belong to a playgroup that turned out to be quite international. We all met at prenatal yoga, and out of the six of us, five couples are made up of at least one person who is not from the US. So I’m not the only one speaking another language, which makes it easier for me. Out in public, I have to admit I have trouble sticking with German. I don’t want anyone to feel out of the loop. But when I make the effort, I never get any negative feedback.

Has it ever proved difficult or challenging? And, conversely, what has been the most rewarding aspect?
Of course!! It’s challenging every day! I have so much to learn. It’s frustrating when I stumble of my words or can’t think of the right noun gender or don’t know the right preposition or case. I also struggle with consistency. Since I split my days between English and German, I’m used to both. So I sometimes forget to switch over to German. All I can do is persevere, though.
There have already been some amazing moments with Aleksander in regards to German. The first time I realized he understood me, he was about a year old. He was going through the baby gate at the top of the stairs, and I told him to watch out for his fingers. It’s a little more complicated to say in German, so when he moved his hand, I couldn’t believe it! At just a little over age 2, Aleksander started talking. Hearing him speak German gives me such a thrill! It’s also amazing to witness how he is learning to separate the two languages. It makes it all worth it!

And finally, do you always plan to speak the non-native language with your child?
I do plan to always speak German with Aleksander. I know there will be new challenges in the future. And I hope he never goes through that phase where he doesn’t want to speak German! It’s helpful to have found the blogging community of other parents who speak a foreign language with their children. I get so inspired by their stories, so it makes me want to keep going when I feel like giving up. In the end, I hope Aleksander will get to a place where he really appreciates being able to speak more than one language. I also hope we can visit Germany now and then, so he has even more of a connection to the people and culture.

MULTICULTURAL PRODUCTS: Our Toys & Books

I've written a lot lately about finding toys that represent my kids' skin tones, so I thought I would post a few pics of things we already do have! Here is Schmoo with her Barbie collection (the 2 white dolls were gifts - so if I hadn't bought the others, those would be the only ones she'd have...):



And here with her cute brown wooden doll's house dollies:



I've mentioned that she also has a rag doll and a baby doll - here they are!



We also have quite a few books that feature brown-skinned heroes/heroines, here are some of them:



And some reference books about children from all around the world:




And finally, 2 books in our collection that present rather different ideals...
This book entitled 'Les Contraires' (Opposites) has, as its main illustration, a black girl and a white girl, which seems to indicate that black and white people are opposite from one another - the very opposite of the message we want to give our children! One for the recycling...



On a more positive note, this version of 'The Beauty and the Beast' shows the Beast turning into a handsome brown-skinned Prince at the end:





Xmas will no doubt bring a whole host of new toys, so will report on those when they arrive!

MULTICULTURAL PRODUCTS: Brown Action Heroes

Well, if I thought it was tricky to find brown mermaids, that was nothing compared to uncovering a brown animated action hero! There are a few to be found as secondary characters in films with white action heroes (lists of non-white action heroes often refer to these), but I was looking for a character that was the real star of the story, so my son would be totally focused on him! Also, as my son is only 4 years' old, I was hoping to find a cartoon figure, or at least family-friendly film hero.

We have had the 2 wonderful films of Kirikou, an adventurous talking African baby, since the children were very small and we even have the book now, which my son still loves.



But he has recently become much more interested in tough men heroes, like Batman, Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, Ben 10, etc and I'm very keen to show him that heroes can also have brown skin!

A long search online did not bring many results. There are a few brown-skinned comic book heroes, but few of these have been made into animated feature films, and in any case, they are on the whole aimed at much older children or adults. Eventually I came across Static Shock, a very cool Ghanaian/American teenage boy who can generate static electricity. I especially love Static's hair, which is all over the place, just like my son's!

The only film of Static I could find was Region 1. As we only have a Region 2 DVD player, we will have to view it on the computer (it's easy to change the region of your DVD drive, but take care, as you can only change it a set number of times and then it locks on to the last selected region).



The only other brown-skinned child-friendly animated action hero I could find was Rex Generator, a Hispanic (Argentian/Mexican) boy, who can grow machines from his body! He sounds super cool and exactly the kind of thing my son is into right now - robots, machines, technology... There seems to be a lot of tie-in merchandise available with Rex, so if my son likes this, we are set! Again, only available in Region 1.



As for film, the main option for family-friendly viewing (it's a 12) seems to be Hancock. We look forward to that when our kids are a little older. There is also Blade, but as an 18 rating, it's no use until they're much older! As my son enjoys Star Wars, I thought I could also make something of Mace Windu, Samuel L Jackson's jedi knight, although he is very much a supporting role in the film. I've bought him this lego figure and a playset featuring Mace.



And I'm afraid that was all I could find! Please do let me know if you know of any others.

MULTICULTURAL PRODUCTS: Brown Fairies, Mermaids, Princesses, Ballerinas, Ice dancers & more!

My daughter was recently asked to draw a princess at school and, despite all my careful promotion of brown princesses, such as Jasmine from Aladdin, Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, and Pocahontas, she drew the archetypal white girl with long blonde hair. I commented 'That looks like Rapunzel, you like her, don't you?' just to draw her attention to the fact that she had selected particular characteristics. But it did remind me that the bombardment of white images, particularly in regard to princesses and fairies, is very powerful and that I need to continue with my efforts to present my children with other ideals of beauty in the home.

This morning on the school run we played a game I invented on the spot, called 'Name a Princess'. My daugher picked Cinderella, I said Jasmine, she said Ariel, I said Princess Tiana - at that point, she said that she'd wanted to pick her, which I was rather pleased about! But the aim of the game, as you may've guessed, was to remind her that lots of beautiful brown characters are princesses, as well as all the lovely white ones :-) So to continue from my last post on trying to find brown Barbie dolls for my daughter, I thought I would see what other products I could find that represent my children's skin tones! I mentioned that it is extremely difficult to find brown fantasy figures, such as fairies and mermaids, but this seems to be changing, at least with fairies, so I'll start with them.


FAIRIES

'Rainbow Magic' produce modern fairy stories and take care to include all skin tones and hair types among their many series. And luckily for us, these books are also available in French! Check out cool Ashley the Dragon Fairy with her gorgeous afro, which my daughter is reading at the moment:



I also discovered this story about a little boy and his very funky tooth fairy at the local library:



Disney includes the cute black fairy Iridessa in their film 'Tinkerbell & the Great Fairy Rescue', but I did find that this fairy gets a bit lost among all the other white fairies and my daughter only seems to remember Tinkerbell, the star and main focus of the story.



Then I uncovered a brown-skinned Barbie fairy (try typing 'Barbie Fairy Doll African' into Google):




MERMAIDS

Mermaids are trickier! Although mermaid myths are told around the world, in the West the image of the Caucasian mermaid brushing her long blonde hair is strong. However, I did uncover 3 Barbie mermaid dolls, though being fairly rare, they are quite expensive.

Fountain Mermaid Barbie - African American (loving the fabulous pink hair!):



Barbie Sparkle Lights Mermaid Doll - African American:



Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie - African American (with mermaids, it's all about the hair, and this doll has it all the way to the tip of her tail!):



Dora the Explorer, with her pale brown skin and big brown eyes, has a mermaid version!



For stories about non-white mermaids, I had to spend quite a bit of time on Google! Here are the results, I am going to check some of these out and report back:








PRINCESSES & FAIRY TALES

There is now a nice mix of skin tones in the famous Disney Princess line-up, which includes:
Princess Tiana
Princess Jasmine
Mulan
Pocahontas

Here they all are:



As my daughter is quite keen on Cinderella and Rapunzel (as well as Princess Tiana, Princess Jasmine, etc!), I wanted to offer her an alternative to the blonde blue-eyed ideal of beauty. There are some great story books that offer alternative tellings of Rapunzel et al, with brown-skinned heroines.













Here is a wonderful version of the Cinderella story, with a brown-skinned Cinders, Whitney Houston as fairy godmother and Whoopie Goldberg as Queen Constantina. It's only available in Region 1, though, so we'll have to watch it on the computer!



BALLERINAS
As always, there is a Barbie for every occasion!





Here's a ragdoll from Dolls Like Me for a softer look:



As for the all-important dancing ballerina jewellery box, I could only find one featuring a brown ballerina, a luxury and therefore expensive one, from US site Music Box Attic:



And for inspiration, some real-life dancers! This is Aesha Ash, a ballerina who danced with the NYC ballet:



And another ballerina, Tai Jimenez who danced with the Boston Ballet:



And finally, Whoopi Goldberg has produced a whole series of books about ballerinas, with brown-skinned girls taking center stage:




ICE SKATERS

As always, Barbie has the doll!



Winx are a series about fairies, who include some brown-skinned characters and who sometimes dance on ice!



And here is one of the tie-in Winx dolls:



And, just for fun, a couple of shots of one of the most famous ice skaters ever to come out of France, the astonishing Surya Bonaly:





BIG GIRL DOLLS

Brown baby dolls and ragdolls are fairly widely available, but older girl dolls a bit less easy to find. This one from Argos has long luscious locks just like my daughter and will probably be her Christmas present!



DOLLS HOUSE DOLLS

Again, not as easy to find as brown baby dolls or ragdolls, but there are still some good sets out there. I love this one from Kids Like Me:




BOOKS

My favourite baby book of all time, partly for the utterly gorgeous illustrations, partly for the hilarious message to both parents and babies (please, please, let me sleep!):




For younger readers, 'My Two Grannies' is great for representing our kind of family!



and it's follow-up, 'My Two Granddads':




'What Will I Be?' for girls and 'Choices, Choices' for boys show all sorts of job options.






Mary Hoffman's 'Grace' series of books includes picture books and follow-on tales for ages 7-10.



Another writer, Malorie Blackman, has quite a few books for older readers:


I've listed some good places to source multicultural children's products on the right of this blog.

But how about the boys? Now that my son is getting older (now aged 4), I am becoming a bit concerned that all his favourite characters, such as Batman and Spiderman, are white - not that he knows it yet, not having seen them without their masks! He is also very fond of Ben 10 and Buzz Lightyear - again, white heroes. I will make this the subject of my next post!