It's Okay to Be Different

Title: It's Okay to Be Different
Author and Illustrator: Todd Parr
Publisher and date of Publication: Little, Brown and Co., 2001
Genre: Fiction, Picture Book
Age Range: K-2nd Grade

Summary: This brightly illustrated picture book talked about differences that people have. They talk about how it's okay to be adopted, or to have no hair, or to eat mac and cheese in the bathtub! It has few words on a page so it would be good for younger elementary. It's designed to make children feel better about themselves and the differences they may have.

Response: I really enjoyed this book. The colors are so bright! Each page is a different color and the people in the book are almost stick figures. Lots of pictures has animals describing the sentence instead of humans. On the last page the author, Todd Parr, writes a note to the reader that says, "It's okay to be different. You are special and important just because of being who you are. Love, Todd." I think that is so sweet of the author to include this note because the young reader will feel like they are friends with Todd. On the back cover it has a picture of Todd Parr and his dog, Bully. It also tells the reader that they live in Berkeley, Cali.
I think that this book would have helped me when I was young and in that "awkward" stage. Children are so mean to each other and this book would help them to feel better about themselves because it shows funny differences that people have. This is such a bright cute book!

Teaching Ideas: I think this book would be good for young children that are having self-esteem problems at school. I'm not sure if I would read this book to the whole class although it is a good book for children to read. I would recommend this book to children that are "unsure" of themselves. I think it would good to have children read this book and write a story about their differences.