Mod. 4 Poetry Book Read Aloud/Written Review: Tan to Tamarind

Children's Poetry Book Review:  

For Students:

Hello students! I have a fabulous poetry book to share with you all today.  It is called Tan to Tamarind: poems about the color brown and is written by Malathi Michelle Iyengar and illustrated by Jamel Akib.   This book of poems is all about the same topic: the color brown.   Did you know the color brown comes in many shades?  Have you ever compared the shades of brown to different foods or items in your life?  Close your eyes and imagine the color tan, sienna, topaz, bay, sepia, cocoa, ocher, beige, sandalwood, coffee, adobe, tamarind, spruce, and nutmeg.  I bet you have not even heard of some of those shades of brown!

Tan to Tamarind shows how meaningful the names of shades of the color brown are to people of different cultures.  This is part of what makes us so unique!  The poem at the end of the book recognizes all of the shades together, and celebrates our differences as something to be proud of.

For Teachers:

Tan to Tamarind is an excellent book about the color brown and how it relates to cultural differences.  Students of different backgrounds and diverse family lives will relate to the wonderful poems shared by author Malathi Michelle Iyengar.  An excellent idea is to collect as many of the colors depicted in the book as visual examples or tangible objects that students can touch and feel, even taste in order to build context.  Don't have a piece of topaz?  Find a picture of a topaz ring.  Have you every seen or eaten tamarind yourself? Ground nutmeg versus a nutmeg seed?  This series of poems about the color brown allows for an awesome learning experience.

Reference:

Iyengar, M. M. (2009). Tan to tamarind: Poems about the color brown. 

          San Francisco, CA: Childrens Book Press.

ISBN:  9780892392278

Want to hear Mrs. Sheaffer read a few of the poems?  Click below.