In bouncy verses and warm images, this rhyming celebration of diversity takes us along with a group of children from morning until night as we read about their various characteristics, including body sizes, eye colors, hairstyles, hobbies, geographic location, physical abilities, ethnicities, religion, and gender identity and expression:
Lu speaks with her hands
Will writes down their thoughts
Ava reads along the page; her fingers glide on dots.
Bella’s body’s narrow
Julian’s is round
Elijah’s legs are shortish, so his dress drags on the ground.
The last page is an affirmation that despite all the many things kids around the world do, every kid is magic, “Just. Like. You.” The image here is of a two-mom family and their child, all with different shades of brown skin, reading in bed.
Two nonbinary children who use “they” pronouns are also included, along with several children who use “he” pronouns but seem gender creative. Not every aspect of identity is addressed directly in the text; some (like skin color) are only in the images; others (like ethnicity) are hinted at by some of the children’s names or elsewhere. (One wears a shirt that says “Frybread Power,” indicating possible indigenous heritage.) That’s fine; it seems less pedantic and offers room for young readers and their grown-ups to point things out and discuss.
A sweet and lovely read.
