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An Angel Just Like Me
As Tyler and his family decorate the Christmas tree, he begins to Why are all the Christmas tree angels blonde-haired, pink-cheeked little girls? Aren?t there any black angels? No one can answer his question - not his mom, not his dad, not even Carl, the mall Santa. As Tyler combs the stores looking for a black angel, he discovers there are none to be found. But sometimes Santa has a surprise or two in his sleigh . . . Beautifully written and illustrated, this appealing story tackles the serious issues of race and gender in a way that all children can understand.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
91 people want to read
About the author
Mary Hoffman
272 books592 followersSee also works published under Mary Lassiter
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.
Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.
Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 20, 2020
A sweet story highlighting the issue with whitewashing. Children need to be able to see themselves in the world around them and it shouldn’t fall to Father Christmas friends to fulfil this.
November 27, 2015
Finally a book that addresses the fact that Santa, Angels and nearly all the figures in a Nativity are Caucasian! A question that all Americans should wonder about and the marketing departments should do something about. This sweet story about a young boy named Tyler has enough interesting twists to prevent it from becoming saccharin. The watercolor illustrations by the husband and wife team, Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, are absolutely beautiful with the same sweet homey sense as the story. This book needs more attention and should be in every library in its Christmas collection!
May 15, 2018
I read this a number of times before Christmas with my daughter to talk about representation. She is a bit young for the idea, but that is the main point of this book. Representation matters. The reason that Black Panther was such an important movie is that representation matters.
Part of the backlash against books like this is that Whites do not understand how much representation matters to them until they start seeing things that are non-representational. I remember reading a review against Wonder Woman last year that was complaining about Wonder Woman being the primary hero and leaving the guys out of the action. But there was no sense of irony in the review. The author of it literally did not see how he was writing about how most women are portrayed in almost every other superhero movie.
Part of the backlash against books like this is that Whites do not understand how much representation matters to them until they start seeing things that are non-representational. I remember reading a review against Wonder Woman last year that was complaining about Wonder Woman being the primary hero and leaving the guys out of the action. But there was no sense of irony in the review. The author of it literally did not see how he was writing about how most women are portrayed in almost every other superhero movie.
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June 18, 2016I'm pretty close to over white people writing about other people's experiences, but as I read this book I felt like really it wasn't aimed at Black kids so much as it was aimed at white kids (for surely Tyler's revelation is no surprise to Black kids, nor to Black parents), which I actually appreciated. Much of how privilege operates is that we don't even realize we have/benefit from it, and this book does a nice job of bringing awareness to white kids of one element of white privilege.
(And the illustrators are an African-American man and a Taiwanese woman, so I appreciated that it's not just a white woman who gets to profit off the success of this book.)
(And the illustrators are an African-American man and a Taiwanese woman, so I appreciated that it's not just a white woman who gets to profit off the success of this book.)
August 18, 2014
Finding a Christmas angel that looks just like him, isn't easy for a little black boy named Tyler. But with the help of his friend-babysitter-art student and Santa's helper, Carl, Tyler gets his very own personal Christmas angel. Now all of Tyler's friends want Carl to make angels that look just like them. This is a perfect book for children who don't look exactly like the traditional rosy, blond, Christmas angels, and for children who do!
February 26, 2015
This multicultural book made me think. The little boy, Tyler, wonders why there are no angels that look like him. I like the perspective of the book, because like the book emphasizes, very few angels with brown skin are sold. Nobody can prove that angels are all white. An Angel Just Like Me is a thought provoking book.
January 2, 2020
An Angel Just Like Me is a book I used to love reading with my gran when I was a child and as an adult I recognise now how important the issues in the book are and how they are still so relevant today, over 20 years later! It is a book I wish was more well known than it is.
The story is about a young boy named Tyler who, when looking for an angel for their tree, realises that none of the shops sell angels that look like him. There are no black angels, no male angels and most Christmas figures are all white which makes him disappointed.
I think this is a fantastic story that really brings attention to how we all look different but only see the same kind of people in our shops and that it should be more diverse. The children were interested to see how Tyler couldn't find an angel like him and agreed that there should be angels like him too.
The illustrations in the book are lovely and really show the true message of the book. From the angels and the nativity to Santa, there is lots to talk about and could prompt questions from older children. The children loved seeing the end of the book and how happy it made Tyler and his friends. We thought we'd try too this year and made angels just like us for our Christmas trees!
This is a book that deserves so much more recognition than it gets. Even now it is a book with such an important message that is still relevant today, I will continue to read this to the children each year and spread the message of how we should have a more diverse and accepting view of Christmas!
The story is about a young boy named Tyler who, when looking for an angel for their tree, realises that none of the shops sell angels that look like him. There are no black angels, no male angels and most Christmas figures are all white which makes him disappointed.
I think this is a fantastic story that really brings attention to how we all look different but only see the same kind of people in our shops and that it should be more diverse. The children were interested to see how Tyler couldn't find an angel like him and agreed that there should be angels like him too.
The illustrations in the book are lovely and really show the true message of the book. From the angels and the nativity to Santa, there is lots to talk about and could prompt questions from older children. The children loved seeing the end of the book and how happy it made Tyler and his friends. We thought we'd try too this year and made angels just like us for our Christmas trees!
This is a book that deserves so much more recognition than it gets. Even now it is a book with such an important message that is still relevant today, I will continue to read this to the children each year and spread the message of how we should have a more diverse and accepting view of Christmas!
December 19, 2018
An Angel Just Like Me is a children's picture book written by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Ying-Hwa Hu and Cornelius Van Wright. It follows a boy quest to find a Christmas tree angel who does not have golden hair and pink skin, but rather looks like him and his family.
Hoffman's text is simplistic and straightforward. It is a heart-warming and poignant story about a boy who questions why all the Christmas tree angels look the same with golden hair and pink skin. The illustrations are phenomenally drawn and accentuate the narrative extremely well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. A boy named Tyler ponders why all Christmas tree angels looks the same and continues his quest to find an angel that represents him and his family – dark skinned and dark haired. In the end, young Tyler finds out that angels, just like people, can come in all different colors.
All in all, An Angel Just Like Me is a wonderfully Christmas picture book that is a heartwarming holiday story, ideal for family sharing.
Hoffman's text is simplistic and straightforward. It is a heart-warming and poignant story about a boy who questions why all the Christmas tree angels look the same with golden hair and pink skin. The illustrations are phenomenally drawn and accentuate the narrative extremely well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. A boy named Tyler ponders why all Christmas tree angels looks the same and continues his quest to find an angel that represents him and his family – dark skinned and dark haired. In the end, young Tyler finds out that angels, just like people, can come in all different colors.
All in all, An Angel Just Like Me is a wonderfully Christmas picture book that is a heartwarming holiday story, ideal for family sharing.
December 18, 2018
This book is a terrific story to share with young readers to help build relationship and empathy. Tyler's family is decorating their home for the holidays and realize that they need to replace their Christmas tree angel. Tyler starts to wonder why all of the angels look like girls and why they are always pink. He wants to find a black angel that looks like him. After searching all of the stores, he becomes discouraged that the family will have to settle for a gold star for the top of the tree. On Christmas morning, he receives a special gift that allows him to see that angels can look like him. The positive story and the beautifully rendered illustrations make this book a treat to share with young readers during the holiday season.
January 15, 2021
This book is so powerful and shows how little diversity there is around christmas, especially angels. I never thought about this before but whilst reading this book i realised that my family had always had a white angel with blonde hair at the top of the tree and that i had only ever seen angels like that in my friends and families houses, and at school.
Now that i am aware of this issue around diversity, i am making it my personal aim to ensure that diversity is promoted in my classroom, especially around christmas time. I will have this book to hand to explain why i am promoting it to the children in my classes and make them think more and become more aware of diversity.
Now that i am aware of this issue around diversity, i am making it my personal aim to ensure that diversity is promoted in my classroom, especially around christmas time. I will have this book to hand to explain why i am promoting it to the children in my classes and make them think more and become more aware of diversity.
December 4, 2017
Tyler wonders why all the angels on top of Christmas trees are girls with blonde hair and white skin. Aren't there angels that look like him? He sets out to try to find one without much success. When Tyler sees Carl (a friend that sometimes watches him when his parents work late) dressed as Santa, Tyler explains the dilemma. Santa (aka Carl) gets to work to carve an angel that looks like Tyler, bringing joy to Carl's Christmas morning.
September 13, 2020
Ages 8 and up. A young Black boy in the U.K. wants to be an angel, and laments that Christmas angels are always portrayed as blond girls. When his parents read the Christmas story from the Bible, he starts questioning why Baby Jesus has been white-washed when his family was from Judea 2,000 years ago. An important story that teaches all children the value of representation and the importance of questioning how history and culture are portrayed.
February 18, 2025
This is a wonderful story of an African American child who wants to have an angel that looks like him. He searches, but he isn't able to find one. He tells his friend about it, and his friend surprises him by carving an African American angel for him for Christmas. This story was very sad to me, based on the fact that the child couldn't find an angel like himself, but it was also happy to me since at the end of his story, he does get his own angel.
December 13, 2023
Tyler has a lot of thought-provoking questions about Christmas traditions that are excellent conversation starters for kids of all ages with inquiring minds. Gorgeous, lifelike illustrations invite readers to enter the world of this heartwarming story about a boy who seeks representation and racial equity in his world.
October 20, 2020
Based around Christmas time and a little boy who questions why none of the angels look like him. A great book to raise awareness of the lack of diversity surrounding Christmas.
January 4, 2021
This sa great story about racial reconciliation in the nativity and Christmas stories.
December 21, 2020
A beautiful Christmas story written by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Yin-Hwa Hu about a young African American boy searching for self-representation. It includes a positive message of family, friends, and inclusion.
October 8, 2010
I was afraid this book would be too sappy and sentimental, especially when it seems like Tyler's just going to settle for one of the wise men having the same color skin as he does. Instead, this is a crisp, warm read with equally charming illustrations.
December 18, 2009
This is a special story with beautiful pictures of a little boy who doesn't understand why angels are always white and unlike him.
April 23, 2015
You can read my review here-
http://teaandtheology.com/book-review...
http://teaandtheology.com/book-review...
December 23, 2015
I like this book. It's so unusual compared to the others I've read. I've read this book several times over the years and enjoyed it again tonight.
November 30, 2016
Christmas, diversity, inclusive
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews