What Color Is the Baby?: A Celebration of Skin Tones

A debut author takes a familiar loaded question, steeped in colorism, and turns it into one child’s openhearted celebration of her new baby sister.

When Kundana meets her newborn sister, Kuku, she declares her the prettiest baby in the world. But as grandparents, aunts, and uncles welcome Kuku, all they want to know is what color she is. Is she a marigold like her sister? Or a white jasmine? As the family gazes at Kuku’s brown skin, big sister Kundana wonders why her family would care what color Kuku is—she’s beautiful! Inspired by first-time author Harshini Vankineni’s own experiences with colorism—the practice of treating people differently because of how dark or light their skin is—What Color Is the Baby? is a moving journey of a big sister finding a new and loving way to describe and defend her adored baby sister, while Neha Rawat’s warm illustrations delight with coziness and love of family.

Harshini Vankineni is fluent in four languages and is a member of SCBWI. What Color Is the Baby? is her publishing debut. An immigrant from India, Harshini Vankineni lives in Southern California with her husband and two young children.

Neha Rawat is an engineer and the illustrator of several books for young readers, including Masala Chai, Fast and Slow by Rajani LaRocca, Zuni and the Memory Jar by Aisha Saeed, and The Totally NOT Wicked Stepmother. She lives in India.