ages 5-8
the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Special Citation. ( )

A book fitting for introductions, this book--without dialogue or spoken language--is able to show the readers the lives of two different children in two different homes, two different areas, and two different backgrounds of culture. This book would be an appropriate book for a classroom introducing students not native in English because of its message of demonstrating how alike one person may be despite appearance, culture, background, or language; diversity. Specifically to English Language Learners, this book would have children feel welcomed in a classroom. As well as not feeling different, children will also be able to understand and become educated in lived unfamiliar to their own. ( )

Top 100 pick because:

Astounding detail and storytelling ability in this work of art of a book. Truly gorgeous and intricate. I've never seen anyone create picturebooks the way Jeannie Baker does. Her stories are powerful narratively as well when she has words, but in this book the complexity and layering of images for each quadruple page spread is utterly awe-inspiring. ( )

This is a wordless picture book. The book tells daily life of two families in two cities. One is located in Australia, while the other one is located in North Africa. The author demonstrates the comparison between two families through daily routine and details. Since from my perspective, I am more familiar with the life of Australian family, I spend more time on comprehending the family life in North Africa, trying to understand details in their lives. At the same time, I would ask myself many times "why they do that?" And trying to seek for clues to learn. The details of both families includes social status, religion, work, culture, and family structure. Though there are differences in the way people eat, wear, and live, they share some commons in latter part of the book. The author shows globalization is making the distance between people smaller and smaller. There are times when the North African family life goes into Australian family life, e.g. the carpet in the store is from North Africa. This means though we are different, we are connected. This book would enlighten readers to think about cultural differences and to try to understand others' life experiences. The ending of the book makes me wonder if they will see each other's life and learn just like when I read this book.

The illustration of the pictures are unique. According to the introduction of the book, the illustrator use collages constructed into layers on wood board to create pictures in the book. This technique provides readers both authenticity and story-like feeling. ( )

This books does not have any words, but tells the story of two boys in two books that are side by side. One boy lives in Australia, and one lives in Morocco. The pictures mirror each other, giving a side-by-side comparison into the everyday lives of these boys and showing how they are different, but also similar in many ways.