Review by Booklist Review
The same team that produced A Family Is a Family Is a Family (2016) returns with a celebration of diversity and inclusion on the playground and in the community. What are the important things kids really want to talk about? Not "Are you a boy or a girl?" but rather, "What big words can you spell?" Not "Where do you come from?" but, "Ask me about my grandmother's house." The story finishes comfortably with the most important and favorite question: "Hey, kid, do you want to play?" Emphasizing what kids really care about rather than making them field divisive inquiries, this sees children celebrating their pride in an exceptional shirt, with a pet's goofy name, and through a love of reading, an unusual lunch, and the joys of friendship. Illustrated in fine-lined drawings and watercolors, the funky and droll children (no adults here) sport wild styles, active postures, and creative antics to make their point. The joyful pictures and intriguing questions will certainly inspire spirited discussion.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
This follow-up to A Family Is a Family Is a Family brings us to school. "Being the new kid is hard," states a dark-haired child approaching a school building. In response to a question we infer has been asked by a second child, the newcomer asserts, "I can think of better things to ask than if I'm a boy or a girl." One by one, others chime in with what they wish others would ask them. A petite boy wishes people would ask him about the big words he can spell instead of about his small size. A child with a prosthetic leg exclaims, "Ask me what I can do, not what I can't!" -- and an illustration shows that child standing triumphantly atop a rocky hill, arms stretched high in victory. Each full-bleed spread splits the speaker's perspective in two: on the verso, we see the child joining a growing playground group while the recto gives a peek into their life in class or outside the school gates. With a Quentin Blake-esque liveliness to her lines, Leng's watercolor and ink illustrations capture the intimate details of young children's lives and dreams. At last, the dark-haired "new kid" shares a question that every child wants to be asked: "Hey kid, do you want to play?" With a unanimous spirit of inclusion within its pages, the story urges readers to rethink the way they first encounter others -- by starting with an invitation. Grace McKinney November/December 2021 p.80(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
There's a new kid at school, and they're tired of being asked all the wrong questions. Who cares if they identify as a boy or a girl? After the new student voices their concerns, other students join in to share the questions they've been asked. One student is asked about their small size, for example, when they'd rather be asked about their prowess at spelling. Another is asked where she comes from when clearly where she currently lives is her home. Still another, who has a prosthetic leg, is asked what they can't do rather than what they can do. Kid after kid voices the questions they wish they were asked. The text is a clever and heartfelt ode to children who challenge everything including xenophobia, ableism, and the gender binary, and the illustrations feature a diverse array of skin colors and hair textures, communicating racial and ethnic diversity. The author's inclusion of more mundane examples of difference--like, for example, a White child who loves to read--is clearly meant to communicate that all children are unique in their own way. Unfortunately, these examples detract from the book's message about challenging oppressive systems of power: Being asked about one's reading habits is, after all, not at all equivalent to being harassed for being gender nonbinary, for being an immigrant, or for being disabled. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A heartwarming but not revolutionary book about inclusion. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
