EVERYONE'S INVITED!

In Lockwood’s picture book, an owlet learns that everyone has their own differences.

Rose, a young owl, is having a birthday party and wants to invite all her park friends. Her mom expects her to be excited, but the youngster is worried. She feels self-conscious about the fact that she’s different because she has to turn her head from side to side to see things properly. Her mother tries to allay her fears by helping her deliver the invitations. As Rose tells each friend about the party, she sees that everyone is different in their own way: in their physical features, how or what they eat, and how they move, think, talk, see, or feel. Soon, Rose is happily making accommodations for all her friends’ needs. Atop watercolor backgrounds, Erokhina’s earth-toned colored-pencil illustrations finely detail each animal’s fur, feathers, or skin design as they joyfully participate in different activities with differences, such as the use of a wheelchair or a feeding tube, clearly displayed. At the book’s end, Lockwood informatively includes a page about Moebius syndrome with illustrations that show how the condition presents in each of Rose’s friends throughout the story.

An important story that celebrates diversity and promotes awareness about a rare condition.