While the texts are virtually identical, there are two differently illustrated versions of "A Guide To Growing Up Good." Acting on the advice of many reviewers of all races, it was felt that readers of color might better relate to characters with whom they most often interact in their own immediate family circles.
But such is life.......
Some milestones are light and cutesy; others really touching and emotional.
Or, scariest of all, when high school days are over, and the time has come to leave the loving nest in which I had been shielded by my family since that first spank.
When I learn to drive.
When one of my best friends gets cancer.
When my body starts to change.
When schoolmates make fun of kids who look different.
When bribed to use the potty.
Like how I feel when Mommy is having another baby.
I tell you about every bump in the pot-holed road of life as I grow up.
Wow! Then time goes on.
Attacking a defenseless little creature.
Then they spank me! I can\'t talk, but I sure can see what\'s going on.
Strangers with blue masks are oohing and aahing.
Suddenly I\'m rudely evicted From Mommy\'s moist, dark, but totally protective care.
That self evident fact having been made about the messenger, let\'s get to the book itself, and its unique way of delivering its message.
This is meant to make clear the critical message that character, decency, and universal truths of love, goodness, and importance of family are absolutely color blind.
By contrast, in the version without the "Black" suffix, the main actors are White, or light skinned.
For that reason, the version with the "Black" suffix when ordering, and with a small letter "B" in the lower right hand corner of the cover, shows the main narrator, their family, and the majority of others with key roles in their lives, as primarily people of color.
While the texts are virtually identical, there are two differently illustrated versions of "A Guide To Growing Up Good." Acting on the advice of many reviewers of all races, it was felt that readers of color might better relate to characters with whom they most often interact in their own immediate family circles
