Taye Diggs Shares How His Biracial Son Inspired New Children's Book

"I didn’t have anything like this to refer to when I was a kid.”

Taye Diggs can add two-time children's book author to his resume with the release of his new book, “ Mixed Me!

The actor’s latest book, which is a follow-up to his 2011 book, “Chocolate Me”, was inspired by his 6-year-old son with ex-wife Idina Menzel and dives into the experiences of biracial children. During an appearance earlier this week on the “TODAY Show,” Diggs explained how his childhood also played a part in the development of the book.

“I wrote it from my childhood, because I didn’t have anything like this to refer to when I was a kid,” he said. “Luckily, a lot of the kids today are in classes and schools that are a little bit more diverse. But that doesn’t mean that these still issues don’t need to be looked at and acknowledged.”

Like his first book, which addressed identity questions from the perspective of a dark skin child, the 44-year-old actor pulled from some of his “tough” experiences growing up with his biracial cousin.

“My cousin is of mixed race. People weren’t as comfortable with who they were and standing up for where they came from,” he said. “So this book touches on that and hopefully will make it even easier.”

Check out more of Taye Diggs' “TODAY Show” segment in the clip above.

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