This cheery story addresses an all-too-common school situation and offers a solution that can be a model for both young readers and their adults.
An elementary school class is planning a mother-son/father-daughter dance. Some children are excited—but several children are excluded. One boy has two dads; another lives with his grandparents; one girl has a dad who’s stationed overseas with the military. The children collectively decide the dance is unfair, and that they should be able to bring anyone who is special to them. The teacher agrees—and the children call the event “The Small and Tall Ball.”
At the ball, everyone dances, whether they can do so well or not, and all have a good time. The boy with two dads thanks his friends for including his family because “Being left out is never fun.”
I particularly like that the children come up with the solution on their own—an empowering approach. Each of the children also has something to say about the idea, too—this is a community project, not just one person’s endeavor. The teacher’s support is critical, too, though, which is something for us adults to model.
Author Frank J. Sileo, a licensed psychologist, has also included a thoughtful Note to Parents and Caregivers to help them educate children on the importance of inclusion and to promote conversations about family diversity. These tips, and the upbeat, direct story itself, should be useful tools for any adult broaching these topics. There’s a clear pedagogical purpose, but that can sometimes be a good thing, and it’s presented here with care.
Don’t take just my word for it, though. In her foreword to the book, none other than tennis legend Billie Jean King says, “Every adult parent, caregiver, friend and family member can read this book with the children in their lives to initiate conversations about what it means to welcome and celebrate the wonderful differences in all of us.”
Oliver is White; one dad is Asian and the other has light brown skin and hair. The other children are a variety of racial and ethnic identities. One child in a dress has short hair and could be read as gender creative or nonbinary.
