Skipping Stones Award Book 2024

Hi!! I'm Epi Dermis, but my friends just call me Skin!

Raise your hands if you sweat, tan, itch, have hair, or have freckles!

I've been feeling pretty sensitive lately because everybody has something to say about me. But people don't always tell the truth.

My color doesn't make me fast, strong, smart, or scary. I just want to shout, "It's just skin, silly!"

From expert anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski and historian Dr. Holly McGee, an illustrated children's book on the evolution of skin color

Meet Epi Dermis, your kid's quirky, clever guide to the origin of skin color! Using simple science and interactive activities, Epi identifies and corrects many silly myths about “race”, a subject matter which—for a long time and still today—has been misunderstood or just plain made up.

Epi goes on an adventure through human history to find out why skin is the hardest working organ in the body business. Whether it’s how migration and climate changed our skin's need for melanin, to why sweat is your body’s secret superpower, Epi’s got all the facts—and uses them to challenge false narratives about skin color and give kids the information they need to do the same.

Based on a collective 40+ years of peer-reviewed research from two leading experts on race, and illustrated with sweet, goofy illustrations your kid will love, It’s Just Skin, Silly! breathes new life into an increasingly divisive issue and enables parents and educators to begin difficult but important conversations about skin color with their kids.