You won’t see my name on many children’s books reviews. This one just pulled at me when I saw the announcement. I just really wanted it so I could read it to my grandsons.

It strikes at a basic issue with me; targeting people for being different.  In this story, two young boys stand looking at a high hedge. One wonders at how different those “others” on the other side must be.  The other boy wonders if there are any differences at all.  The illustrations are clear and dynamic.  We can easily see how each boy views those “others” by the shadowy pictures on the opposite page.

It was so gentle but uncompromising. The young boys are not in conflict or argumentative; each just poses questions and together they work through the answers.  The end is, of course, inevitable and I knew it but I still enjoyed seeing it illustrated.

Max totally got the message: that we’re all the same even when we’re different and we all live on the same planet.  He adores anything with even a mention of a planet.

Jackson liked seeing the boys and he was quick to tell me about his classmates who were a little different.  He obviously understood differences in skin color but he didn’t seem to think it was very important.

I think it’s an important book.  Certainly the subject matter is terribly important.  You can never start too early helping them understand that differences aren’t scary.   ~~ Catherine Book, assisted by Max and Jackson Mathews

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