Not All Animals Are Blue, by Beatrice Boutignon
This French import is subtitled, “A Big Book of Little Differences,” and different it is. It’s sort of a concept book about difference, but with a twist. Each two-page spread features a group of five animals that are, according to the title of their grouping (five penguins on parade, for example), very similar. Yet on the left-hand page are five questions that ask the child to look closer and identify things about the animals that make them each unique from the others. Do you think that snowball is interesting?
This is a wonderful way to encourage children to look for closely at the picture and to think about what nonverbal clues reveal the answers, helping them draw inferences using what they see and what they know (which is an important skill, and one they will work on in kindergarten). It is great for a child who is ready to pore over a book by themselves, but even better as a shared read, for the very charming illustrations are filled with amusing little details and expressions to find and exclaim over as you search for the answers together. The conversational tone of the questions, too, is perfect for drawing out even the most reticent of children.
I love the way the scale of the illustrations makes for an intimate reading-together time (though it would sadly not work with a group), and the way it can even lead into and reinforce the notion that everyone is their own person. That’s something we try to teach our kids all the time, that differences can be accepted, even within a group. It’s never said here -- that larger idea is one left to settle in as you discuss the main concept at work. This book being something different, though, is quite marvelous.
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