A FRIEND FOR HENRY: Empathy and Insight

If you missed my post about HENRY THE BOY (Penny Candy Books), I hope you'll click back to that post (HERE) and take a few minutes to read it. The HENRY in today's post is not the same boy, but they have much in common. If you read that post (better still, read the book) you will note that HENRY of HENRY THE BOY is quite a confident and self-aware young person. You'll also note that it is his external differences that affect his interactions with peers. 

Chronicle Books, 2019

A FRIEND FOR HENRY is written by Jenny Bailey and illustrated by Mika Song. The Henry who stars in this recent picture book appears to be a few years younger than Henry of the first title, but they otherwise have many things in common. Both want to have friends, both have issues that affect their ability to interact with peers in "typical" ways, and both experience complications when it comes to making friends. 
I greatly admire the ways in which both author and illustrator have revealed younger Henry's personality and needs. What appears to be a third person narration, including some dialogue, which gradually invites readers to view the story unfolding as an inner voice, a peek inside Henry's head. 
At no point is Henry labeled. No reference is made to being on a spectrum, to rigidity, to being high-functioning, or any of the other designations that are becoming catch phrases among  the general public. 
Assumptions are shattered, in the subtlest of ways, revealing that Henry does not "prefer" to be alone, but is, in fact, eager for a friend. He adheres firmly to a sort of checklist of criteria and rules to determine who COULD be a friend, the kind of friend he wants and needs.
Text makes clear that Henry is observational, often standing apart to gather information. He holds firm to his conclusions about others but is capable of growth. Henry has strong preferences (in colors, locations, activities) but but he CAN adjust, if given a chance. 

There is a strong (and overdue) push to represent our diverse world in all books, but especially in books for young children. This picture book succeeds in terms of externals (skin tones and ethnicities) but I was even more charmed and delighted to note that Henry (and readers) will identify personality and temperament differences, too. Henry notes the patterns of his peers (activity and noise levels, bossy/sharing tendencies, and others) and is aware of his own reactions to those personal styles. 
The two titles could be shared and compared, with similarities and differences noted. Both also offer rich resources for discussions about finding, making, repairing, and keeping friendships. Some amazing conversations about the illustration styles, color tones, and moods of the two books will arise, along with distinct preferences between the two approaches. 
As a side note, Henry seems to be a popular name these days. If you have a Henry (or two) in your home or class or library group, you will have some very enthusiastic readers!

Mirrors and Windows: Our Most Amazing World

Much is being made (justifiably) of the need to create and circulate books in which people from all backgrounds can find themselves. Of equal importance is that books depicting varied peoples, places, and points of view offer windows to a wider world for individuals whose world experience is narrow.
If this is in some way news to you, please learn more about the discussion and drive by checking into the WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS website and resources, here. 

It's not as if excellent books serving these purposes haven't available in the past. The tragedy is that the percentage of such books is vanishingly small, and has remained so for far too long. You'll find documentation of those facts and the decades-long publishing patterns in children's literature in this post from the reliable CCBC, as shared in Horn Book recently. 

In this post I'd like to share and recommend two books, one older and one very recent, that allow ALL readers to explore the world and find themselves along their reading journeys.

Candlewick Pres, 2010

Jeannie Baker is the multi-talented author/illustrator of MIRROR, published in 2010. This still feels like a "new" book to me, but it made its way onto store and library shelves nearly eight years ago. That was long before the current movement for more diverse books was underway. 
Ms. Baker's award-winning art wins praise from many quarters for it's technical and interpretive skill. More importantly, it draws young eyes magically and won't let them go until they have scoured every square inch, commenting and comparing,  turning pages forward and back, again and again.
In this case, her power is magnified by an incredible book design.


MIRROR is meant to be laid open to allow it to reveal, front to back, the English/Western life of a family in a modern urban setting. At the same time it can be read, visually, from back to front, following Arabic literacy conventions. That half of the book depicts the  life of a Middle Eastern rug-weaving family, turn by turn, until they meet the Western family at the center fold and their lives intersect. It's an intriguing and simple-but-brilliant look at the interdependence of all lives, of the many ways in which human commonalities define us even more than differences.


Compare Mirror to a very recent release by author/illustrator Matt Lamothe, THIS IS HOW WE DO IT. Rather than explore only two families and cultures, Lamothe selects seven families from around the world to portray and label the intricacies of those similarities and differences through the course of a day-in-the-life. 
He doesn't attempt to weave a storyline throughout their lives. In fact, he chose to shift the positioning of each character/culture instead of locking each in the same orientation on the page. The labeling is still effective and offers an oppportunity for kids to  eagerly challenge themselves, turning back often to remind themselves of who is who and where they live. 

Chronicle Books Canada, 2017

Endpapers do a a great job of showing just how small our world really is. Back matter provides a simple but helpful glossary (in natural, kid-friendly language) to expand on specific terminology from various scenes and cultures. The author's note explains how he was inspired to create the book and describes the complex process he used to assure authenticity for this nonfiction treasure. It's worth a read in and of itself, and the final double spread using photographs of the seven actual families should lead many young readers to explore Lamothe's final notes.

I particularly appreciate these two titles for use in presenting a balanced view of kids and families in far-flung parts of the world. I've shared  some recent  titles here and here that focus on refugees and immigrants.Presenting objective and realistic stories that  share those harsh experiences is essential, but it's all too easy for young readers to develop a false concept: that all "others" are destitute or desperate or seeking to leave their homes. These two titles provide a healthy contradiction to that misperception. They show a variety of daily life patterns in which the children and families are comfortably settled in routines and relationships that feel familiar and safe. In fact, they make the prospect of traveling and meeting people around the world quite appealing. 
We could use more with that attitude at every age, in my opinion.