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WE'RE MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT

Name: WE'RE MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT
Author: Sophia Day
ISBN: 978-1-64370-761-7

CELEBRATE! DIVERSITY

From the Celebrate! series

by Sophia Day & Megan Johnson ; illustrated by Stephanie Strouse ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019

Well-intentioned but far more prescriptive than engaging.

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One in a series meant to help educators and caregivers help kids be their best.

This volume features a group of diverse children (collectively referred to as the MVP kids and named only in backmatter) of different races, abilities, and religious backgrounds. As they interact, the rhyming text affirms and values their diversity, but it neither delivers a story nor develops characterization. “There are many ways we’re different— / How we look, play, talk, or eat, / what we’re good at, what we like, / or how we move along the street,” reads the text on one spread, with others homing in on specific scenarios. The accompanying illustrations resemble animation stills but are notably stiff, even when children (all illustrated with ungainly, disproportionately large heads) are depicted in active scenes, such as one of a child using a rollator while playing freeze tag with children who have no visible disabilities. Backmatter offers “Helpful Teaching Tips” to encourage observational speech as opposed to judgmental comments and questions (eschewing “(not) normal” for “(not) typical,” for example), and it advocates listening to others’ preferences when describing differences (for example, perhaps adjusting phrasing to refer to “a child with autism” as opposed to saying a child “is autistic”). Companion titles Counting Critters, Treasured Wisdom, and The Way We’re Made feature the MVP kids learning about number sense, respect for elders and their knowledge, and self-esteem, respectively.

Well-intentioned but far more prescriptive than engaging. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 7, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-64370-761-7

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Real MVP Kids

Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
STAND TOGETHER AGAINST BULLYING
by Sophia Day & Kayla Pearson illustrated by Timmy Zowada

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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GRUMPY MONKEY

by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...

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It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?

When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)