The lesson in this book is that you should be yourself. Carlos makes friends by trying to be the other animals. He changes his color to match those around him. Part of me likes the book, but part of me doesn’t. On the surface the story works, is cute, and makes its point. But at the same time, if it was told with animals instead of people, it would be disastrous. It’s about a character changing his skin. He changes his skin to fit in. And while he learns to be himself, I think the message at the beginning might play harder than it originally feels. Carlos made his friends to begin with by looking like them. I think maybe add a character who doesn’t look like Carlos, that Carlos makes friends with by being himself needs to be in here somewhere.