“Somewhere in this world, there is someone just like you,/who finds the same things funny and who laughs the way you do,” begins this book about empathy, connections, and acts of kindness across difference.
Even if you speak a different language or look different on the outside, the book tells us, you may still find that the same things make you happy, curious, sad, or scared. Wouldn’t things be better if we knew that there was someone out there like this who cared about us and with whom we could share our stories? We should extend help if needed to this person in turn—a kind word, a shared toy or toiletry, a listening ear—say, if the person needs shelter or a place to sleep, if they had to leave their friends behind, or “had to leave their home because they didn’t want to fight”? The book doesn’t get into the details of what might have precipitated those situations, leaving plenty of room for adults and young readers to discuss.
There’s a sweet call to action here in Helen Docherty’s text, but it is David Robert’s charming illustrations that really get the point across. They show pairs of children with some things in common—such as liking to draw or being amused by their cats—but also with differences, whether of skin tone, ethnic identity, physical ability, gender, or combinations thereof. One child, who reads as a boy, is also wearing a tutu; he’s paired with another boy who has painted nails and whose shirt sports a rainbow. They’re clearly connected via their gender creativity, although one has a prosthetic leg and the other wears cochlear implants. Being “just like” someone else is more about internal attitudes and interests rather than external appearances, the story seems to say, and it is these internal commonalities that should compel people to reach out in friendship.
This is a book with a message, but it’s an important one, nicely conveyed, making this a highly recommended title.
