#380 - Diversity

by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos and illustrated by Gustavo Mazali

“Diversity” by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos and illustrated by Gustavo Mazali. Published by Penguin. A delightful book which celebrates the many kinds of diversity that we come across in our surroundings.

The book is a visual treat for children to realise the differences that we come across in the people around us. Though there are many common things that we share, there are also many things that make us different. This is depicted in a beautiful manner in the book. The things we eat, where we live, how we go around, what we wear, how we speak and what we celebrate are some of the things that make us who we are.

The book emphasises the fact that we are all special in our own ways. It would be hard to imagine a world in which everyone is the same and does the same things in same ways. Wouldn’t it be so boring!? Our diversity is what makes us interesting and defines who we are. The book makes the children think about what they do in their own unique ways and what makes them different from others around them. What makes it really nice is that at the end of each chapter, the diversity concepts introduced by the chapter are made personal to the reader by asking them questions about themselves related to the topic. Read the delightful book with a child to have a lovely conversation with them on this important topic which has been made very interesting in this book.

My 8.5 year old son and I had a whale of a time reading this book together. It led to so many small conversations around what he has noticed about these aspects and what he feels about them. He was amazed to know some of the things given in the book about people from different parts of the world. The ways of greeting in different countries as an example piqued his curiosity. People kissing each other’s cheeks in France was something that he found quite different. He told me that he had mentioned it to a friend in school who also enjoyed it as much as him. The bright and cheerful illustrations add to the charm factor of this book. However, the illustration for the religions topic had no representation for Hinduism even though the accompanying text mentioned it. This was pointed out by my son who was wondering why this had got left out. I found that even Shinto which was listed as a religion in the text was missing in the illustration. Overall this was quite a refreshing read and so different from what we usually lay our hands on. It has become one of our favourites now :)

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 6 and above.

Reasons to Read

The book covers many types of diversities that exist in humans and not just those couple of types which tend to be part of most conversations on the topic of diversity.

Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India, for review. Thank you to Greeshma and Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!