Someone Just Like You by Helen Docherty

Illustrated by David Roberts 3.5 stars Bright, colorful illustrations and a story that encourages empathy, kindness, and acceptance. The illustrations are wonderfully diverse, featuring characters with different skin colors, gender expressions, body types, disabilities, hair styles, and nationalities. I love how the pages mirror each other, showing the similarities among individuals, their likes and dislikes….

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Butterfly on the Wind by Adam Pottle

Illustrated by Ziyue Chen 3.5 stars A sweet story of the strength of community and the power of individuals. It’s the day before the talent show and Aurora is nervous to perform. She manifests a butterfly using ASL, which travels the world, inspiring Deaf children to add to the flurry of butterflies. They make their…

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A Plan for Pops by Heather Smith

Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan 3 stars A sweet, gentle story. Lou loves visiting Grandad and Pops on Saturdays. But one Saturday, something terrible happens and Pops gets hurt. Lou makes a plan to cheer him up with the help of Grandad and their neighbors. The illustrations are lovely. Loved the soft colors and sweet details….

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Everybody Has a Body by Molli Jackson Ehlert

Illustrated by Lorian Tu 3 stars A sweet book with straightforward text and wonderful illustrations centered around body neutrality. A wonderful exploration of what bodies can do and how people use their bodies everyday. Bodies are described in terms of how they look and feel, their different needs, and what they do in neutral terms….

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Some Bodies by Sophie Kennen

Illustrated by Airin O’Callaghan 5 stars Perfection! I love this book so much. Beautiful illustrations. Catchy rhymes. All around positivity and great messages about body acceptance, differences, and celebrating all the ways bodies exist. The text flows nicely with a great rhythm and a catchy rhyme scheme. A joy to read and it really sings…

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What Happened to You? by James Catchpole

Illustrated by Karen George 4 stars A sweet story with important messages. Joe is playing pirates on the playground. When other kids see him, all they want to talk about is that he has one leg. Joe does his best to answer their questions, but really just wants to get back to his game. A…

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Come Over to My House by Eliza Hull & Sally Rippin

Illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett 5 stars A delightful, rhyming picture book, perfect for reading aloud. Readers are invited into the homes of a variety of children to play and learn about how different families do things. From using Braille books and guide dogs to flashing doorbells to prosthetic limbs to noise-canceling headphones, this book shows…

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Song in the City by Daniel Bernstrom

Illustrated by Jenin Mohammed 5 stars A beautiful story of stopping to appreciate the world around you, sharing experiences, and changing perspectives. Told through rhythmic text, the book tells the story of Emmalene and Grandma Jean’s journey to church. On the way, Emmalene listens to the song of the city, but Grandma Jean doesn’t have…

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Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise, Part 2

by Gene Luen Yang Illustrated by Gurihiru 3 stars Continues the story established in Part 1. I checked out the first two books from the library together and didn’t realize there was a third book, so I was thinking this would wrap up more quickly. Still, this one offers a nice break from the major…

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Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise, Part 1

by Gene Luen Yang Illustrated by Gurihiru 3 stars This graphic novel spin-off picks up where the show left off. Aang and Katara are getting all cutesy, giving Sokka major “oogies”. Toph has started a school for metalbending. And Zuko has become the new Fire Lord, establishing the Harmony Restoration Movement to remove Fire Nation…

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