About the Holiday

Today I’m celebrating Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week with a humorous book by a debut author whose story embodies the universal themes of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Her story is a bright reminder that life is better when we embrace the wonderful diversity all around us.

Anything But Pink

By Adelina Winfield

 

Not long ago in a nearby city—it might even have been yours—a couple was waiting for their little girl to be born. One night under a starlit sky, her mommy and daddy were inspired to call their precious one Starri. Starri’s “parents had big dreams about what she would be like,” but none of those things involved the color pink. In fact, when guests were invited to Starri’s baby shower they were told, “‘Please don’t bring anything Pink. Nope, Not one thing!’”  

They were encouraged to bring “‘blue gifts, green gifts, purple gifts, yellow gifts, and rainbow gifts,’” but nothing pink. Why? Starri’s mom said, “‘all baby girls wear pink, and we want our baby girl to be different.’” So the decorations and cupcakes were “red, green, purple, and aqua, and friends and family brought a rainbow of blankets, bouncers, bassinets, toys, clothes, and diapers. But there was not one dot of pink. “Nope. No pink at all.”

Mommy and Daddy took all those presents home and decorated their baby girl’s nursery in “yellow, grey, aqua, and orange.” Pretty soon Starri was born, and she was “as bright as her name.” As an infant Starri was wrapped in green and yellow; she crawled in lavender onesies; she took her first steps in peach and blue; and she greeted the world in a bold red dress. But she never, ever wore anything pink. “Nope. Not one thing.”

But one day Starri told her mom and dad that she wanted to wear a pink dress. Their astonished faces said it all. And Starri didn’t want just one pink dress, she wanted a pink tutu, “pink nail polish, pink shoes, pink ice cream, pink cake, pink leggings, and pink sunglasses. A pink room with pink walls, and a pink dresser with a pink lamp on a pink night table.” Yep, she wanted everything pink. And so it happened.

There was not one inch of Starri’s life that was not pink. She wore pink at playtime, somersaulted in pink, sat on the pink spot on the classroom reading rug, and “of course had a pink birthday party.” One day as Starri once again clothed herself head to toe in pink, her mom stopped her. “‘Wearing all pink is boring,’” she said. But Starri didn’t believe it. How could pink be boring when there was “bubble gum pink, candy pink, magenta, rose, fuchsia, flamingo pink, watermelon pink, and hot pink?” Pink was not boring. “Nope, not one bit!”

“‘But honey,’” her mom and dad said, “‘variety is the spice of life,’” and they showed her how all the beautiful colors of the rainbow could “live together with pink.” Starri loved this idea, and so now when you see her, she’s still wearing pink, but she’s welcomed other colors into her life as well!

If you have ever been a little girl, had a little girl, or even just known a little girl, Adelina Winfield’s Anything But Pink will resonate and make you smile. Despite parent’s preferences, protestations, and prohibitions, pink creeps then gallops into girls’ lives in a million different ways. Winfield’s repetition of a rainbow of colors and the fervently hopeful “Nope, no pink at all. Not one thing” makes her story all the funnier as adults surely know what’s coming and young readers will cheer when Pink finally makes its appearance. I laughed out loud when I turned to the pages after Starri embraces pink as it took me back to when my own daughter, who having earlier rejected pink for green, suddenly wanted a pink room, pink lamp, pink clothes, and even wall stickers exactly like the colorful circles that dot Winfield’s endpapers.

There is a joyous quality to Winfield’s stylish illustrations as Starri’s parents prepare for their baby amid vibrant images that express the dreams they share for their child. When adorable, curly-haired Starri comes along, she happily wears what her parents give her until the moment when she asserts her independence and with personality and flair enters the monochromatic world of pink. The story is infused with a sweet tone shown in the loving relationship between Starri’s parents as they stand close together, walk with their arms around each other, and even have priceless matching expressions the first time the dreaded P word is uttered. Their relationship with Starri is likewise affectionate. When their daughter does discover pink, they support her, only later guiding her to consider a more global perspective.

Anything But Pink is a cute story for all lovers of the color pink and would make an appreciated baby shower or birthday gift and a much-asked-for story time or bedtime read.

Ages 3 – 8

CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2016 | ISBN 978-1541103672

Anything But Pink is available on Amazon

You can follow Anything But Pink on Instagram

About Adelina Winfield

Adelina is an all around artist and an eternally creative spirit. She spent several years as a Fashion Designer in New York’s garment district, designing children’s clothing for labels such as Guess Jeans, JayZ’s Rocawear brand, and Tina Knowles’ Dereon line. This design experience allowed her to globe trot, where she spotted the latest trends throughout Europe and Asia. Her eclectic upbringing in Brooklyn, NY, worldwide travel, and many years in the fashion business has served as a canvas for her current creative expression: writing. Now living in another creative city, Austin, Texas, Adelina has married her artistic and writing talents in her first children’s book, Anything But Pink. 

Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week Activity

Crayon Rainbow Art

 

With this cool project you can create an art piece that’s as colorful as a rainbow and as unique as you are! Adult help is needed for children.

Supplies

• Box of 24 crayons
• White foam board or thick poster board, 8 inches by 17 inches
• A small piece of corrugated cardboard, about 5 inches by 5 inches (a piece of the foam board can also be used for this step)
• A small piece of poster board, about 5 inches by 5 inches
• Scissors
• X-acto knife (optional)
• Hot glue gun
• Hair dryer
• Old sheets or towels, newspapers, a large box, or a trifold display board

Directions

1. Remove the various red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet hued crayons from the box of crayons
2. Strip the paper from the crayons by slicing the paper with the x-acto knife, or removing it by hand
3. Line them up in order at the top of the white foam board
4. Glue the crayons with their tips facing down to the board with the hot glue gun
5. Cut an umbrella or other shape of your choice from the poster board
6. Trace the umbrella or other shape onto the corrugated cardboard or a piece of the foam board and cut out
7. Glue the poster board shape onto the corrugated cardboard, let dry
8. Glue the umbrella or other shape to the foam board, about 4 ½ inches below the crayons
9. Set up a space to melt the crayons. The wax will fly, so protect the floor and walls by placing the art piece in a large box or hanging newspapers, old sheets or towels on the walls and placing newspapers on the floor. A trifold display board and newspapers works well.
10. Stand the art piece upright with the crayons at the top
11. With the hot setting of the hair dryer, blow air at the crayons until they start to melt
12. Move the hair dryer gently back and forth across the line of crayons from a distance of about 6 to 12 inches away. The closer you are to the crayons, the more they will splatter
13. The crayons will begin to melt and drip downward
14. You can experiment with aiming the hair dryer straight on or at an angle to mix colors
15. Wax that drips onto the umbrella or other shape can be chipped off after it dries or wiped off to create a “watercolor” effect on the shape
16. Once the hair dryer is turned off, the wax cools and dries quickly
17. Hang or display your art!

About Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators. 

Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that.

Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press,  Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books

Author Sponsors include: Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan Bernardo, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Delores Connors, Maria Dismondy, D.G. Driver, Geoff Griffin,  Savannah Hendricks, Stephen Hodges, Carmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid Imani, Gwen Jackson,  Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana Llanos, Natasha Moulton-Levy, Teddy O’Malley, Stacy McAnulty,  Cerece Murphy, Miranda Paul, Annette Pimentel, Greg Ransom, Sandra Richards, Elsa Takaoka, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato,  Sarah Stevenson, Monica Mathis-Stowe SmartChoiceNation, Andrea Y. Wang

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

MCBD Links to remember:

MCBD site: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Kindness Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teachers-classroom-kindness-kit/

Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents: http://bit.ly/1sZ5s8i

Picture Book Review