What If We Were All The Same! by C.M. Harris
My review: ★★★★
It’s no surprise this book has won awards. It’s a great message about the value of our differences. It mentions various ways we all differ from each other. It ends with a reminder that none of us should feel sad about the ways we’re different from others. The artwork is high-quality.
I’m not a great fan of books that rhyme; the rhyming in this book is OK but the meter is a little awkward in places. Overall nothing too bad.
If I had one wish to take this book from good to great, it’d be this: I wish it drew a little more on our empathy. It’s one thing to say “everyone has value.” It’s another to make us think about people who receive messages to the contrary, and how we can help those people. Kids who’ve been feeling bad about themselves would resonate better with a character in their same situation. Kids who’ve been unaware of other people’s situations would learn to watch for those situations and help out.
I like to end book reviews with a summary of who’d be the best audience for the book. In this case, this is a good book for all young kids. It is probably targeted slightly more at kids who’ve felt excluded. But the kids who’ve never felt excluded should hear these messages too.
