Review of book,"Whoever you Are". | Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Book)

Unity in diversity. | Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Book) | Mem Fox

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	• Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Book) Mem Fox Sandpiper, 2006 - 32 pages average customer review:based on 41 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great for teaching about Communities Around the World

I always use this book to launch my third grade study of communities around the world. It is beautifully illustrated and teaches students that although we may live "differently" from one another, we are all very much alike. This book in combination with Julius Lesters', Let's Talk About Race, is a perfect model to teach children about culture, race and ethnicity.

Review of book,"Whoever you Are".

I bought this lovely book for my"adopted" African family. I met the father, Jiya-Jiya, as he was a waiter in my Hotel in Cape town, when I went there last July for a holiday. I have been sending him money each month, and he was able to bring his wife,{whom he hadnt seen in 3 years,} to cape Town. last Xmas, thanks to the extra cash, he managed to send his wife back to visit their 3 kids, who are in the care of the Grandma in Zimbabwe. The wife took this book, along with several others I sent for the kids, she was able to spend Xmas with her kids, and they loved all the books, esp. this one, which is about children of all races, religions, and colours. So, a big Thank you, this book will , Im sure help in a small way to bridge the huge gulf between black and white, rich and poor! Maia Russell.

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Unity in diversity.

Initially people lived in their own little villages. They married within their groups and had children, who also married within the same group. When you identified yourself as a member of a certain group, it is a given that you do a set of things just like the other members of the group.

Slowly, people started travelling out of their groups for various reasons like education, job, adventure, love, wealth, good fortune etc and found themselves amongst new culture, new traditions and people with completely different values. A plant or an animal would have perished, but man is known for his resilience. He managed to survive. But what were the adjustments he had to make in order to survive? Did he keep his home culture intact? Did he surrender completely to the host culture? Did he end up forming his own third culture, which was neither the home culture nor the host culture?

As an immigrant who is bringing up my children in USA, these questions are important to me. Do I embrace the `American culture'? If so, considering that America is a land of immigrants, what exactly is American culture? If I wanted to contribute to the host culture without completely being assimilated am I asking for too much?

Imagining that I am carrot, do I want to be cut in to pieces, sautéed along with a host of other vegetables and spices, blended, passed through a fine sieve and become homogenous soup, in the process of loosing my identity? Or do I want to be diced and be a part of a delicious salad? After much thinking I have decided I like my salad better than soup :)

Because when you keep preaching equality, it gets confusing. People are not made from the same dough using the same cookie cutter. However effectivley one blends in, there are differences and one just cannot turn a blind eye to those differences. Its like saying, if we take away 1 from 3, then it will be the same as 2. Now 3 and 2 are equal.

The best way to make people feel validated is by telling that we are all different in different ways. We eat different food. We wear different clothes. We celebrate different things. We celebrate in diferent ways. We have different beliefs. But underneath all those differences the one single common bond that unites us is our humanity. If you can extend a loving hand, share a hug, feel another person's pain, fully aware of the mutual differences, then true tolerance is achieved.

This is the message of the book Whoever You Are. Mem Fox takes children on a magic ride through out the world pointing that no two skin colos are the same, no two landscapes are the same, no two lifestyles are the same, but past all these differences, if you look deep inside, we all have a heart, we all laugh and we all are capable of hurting and healing.

You know what I kept thinking of? My second standard lessons that talked about `unity in diversity'!

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Fantastic book for children

This is a wonderful book for children. It teaches children that although our skin color may be different, we all have the same feelings and want to be happy. The wonderful soft and caring verses by Mem Fox are so touching, it is impossible not to be moved by this book. In its simplicity, children will easily get the message of peace and acceptance. as a teacher, I highly recommend this book for the classroom. The illustrations are as beautiful as the prose, and offers a fantastic for message for young children. The more children who are read this book, the better!

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My daughter loves it

I bought this for my 2 year old daughter and she really enjoys it. It teaches children that there are other children just like them all over the world. That they may look and live different, but are all the same inside. Another great book by Mem Fox

Every day all over the world, children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same or speak the same language. Their lives may be quite different. But inside, they are alike. Stirring words and bold paintings weave their way around our earth, across cultures and generations. At a time when tolerance still needs to be learned, Whoever You Are urges us to accept our differences, to recognize our similarities, and--most important--to rejoice in both.

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