Award-winning author Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford will be in Phoenix to read and sign copies of her new children’s book.

“What Color Is Your Hand?/¿De qué color es tu mano?,” a picture book illustrated by Walter Thompson, is the story of a mixed-race child and his grandmother, “Nani,” after a trip to the park evolves into a lesson about bullying, discrimination and an appreciation for diversity.

“The story is an answer to my then 8-year-old grandson’s question, ‘Why do people stare at us when they see us holding hands in public?’,” Rivera-Ashford, a former bilingual education teacher, shared in a press release. “My hope is that through the lessons I’ve modeled for him and his sister, brought to life in this book, that children everywhere can embrace what makes each of us beautiful and special to the world.”

Rivera-Ashford will appear at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 2 at the Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center, 147 E. Adams St., in Phoenix. She was raised in Nogales, Arizona, on the Arizona-Mexico border.

This is Rivera-Ashford’s fifth bilingual children’s book “for ages 3 to 103.”

Admission to the reading is free.