THE BLUE SCARF

Seeking a beloved lost belonging, Layla embarks on a journey.

Layla, a blue-skinned, dark-haired girl, enjoys an idyllic childhood in the world of Blue. When fire falls from the sky and carries away the treasured scarf her mother gave her, she sails across the sea in search of it. In the worlds of Green, Yellow, Red, Orange, and Purple (where cultural symbols and attire imply European, Middle Eastern, Asian, African, and Latin American settings respectively), the inhabitants, uninterested in other colors, send her away. But when she arrives in the Rainbow world, the people, who are diverse in skin tone, help her find the object (a note at the end makes clear that the scarf symbolizes identity). As she wraps herself in the scarf, she is welcomed to a new, more accepting land. Though the artwork is attractive, with graphic shapes and shaded textures, the stereotypical imagery is jarring—in the world of Red, Layla meets East Asian people with lines for eyes, including a geishalike figure, along with a dragon and a tiger; in the world of Orange, she encounters Black people wearing tribal marks and masks in a desert landscape as well as a monkey, a giraffe, and a cheetah. While the rather simplistic messages of inclusivity and embracing one’s identity may resonate with readers, they are lost amid the illustrations, which distill these rich cultures down to the level of cliché. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A well-meaning lesson in acceptance and identity overshadowed by flattening and problematic cultural depictions.