All of Us

by Kathryn Erskine, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator)

Overview

A beautiful book about community and love by National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine and #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Alexandra Boiger.

ME can be WE. YOU can come, too. In a lyrical text that travels the globe, National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine shows young readers how the whole world is a community made up of people who are more similar than we are different. With stunning, cinematic art by Alexandra Boiger, the illustrator of the She Persisted series, this is the perfect read-aloud at bedtime or for story time. Perfect for fans of All Are Welcome and Be Kind.

Praise for All of Us:

* "[In this] book about global inclusivity . . . the breathtaking art carries the message throughout." —Booklist, starred review

* "This simple yet beautiful book reminds readers that they are not alone. . . . Children will find something different ­every time they read the poem, and feel cherished by the message of openness." —School Library Journal, starred review

"A lyrical celebration of unity and diversity . . . Purely sweet." —Kirkus Reviews

"This picture book offers an uplifting vision for a unified world." —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593204696
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/18/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,014,734
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD330L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kathryn Erskine (kathyerskine.com) grew up in Europe, Africa, Canada, and the United States, and was a lawyer before she figured out she wanted to become a writer. She takes inspiration from the world around her and from her personal experiences, including her childhood attending eight different schools. She won the National Book Award for Mockingbird and most recently published a picture book called Mama Africa, about Miriam Makeba. You can follow her on Twitter @kathyerskine.

Alexandra Boiger (alexandraboiger.com) has illustrated nearly twenty picture books, including the She Persisted series by Chelsea Clinton; the popular Tallulah series by Marilyn Singer; and the Max and Marla books, which she also wrote. Originally from Munich, Germany, she now lives outside of San Francisco, California, with her husband, Andrea, daughter, Vanessa, and two cats, Luiso and Winter. Follow Alexandra on Instagram @alexandra_boiger.

Editorial Reviews

05/24/2021

Erskine’s spare text, relayed in a collective first-person narration, describes how people from all walks of life can come together. “Hearts can unite./ Hands can set free,” one spread reads, portraying a sloop filled with children sailing into a body of water followed by a wake of hearts. “Words can be heard./ We can all be,” the next spread finishes, with the craft sailing through a watery archway of hearts, overlaid with “love” in various languages. Lighthearted pencil art by Boiger shows children of varying abilities, religions, sizes, and skin tones praying, making music, and playing together, while gentle washes render various cities and natural landscapes. While it’s less a cohesive story than a collection of optimistic expressions, this picture book offers an uplifting vision for a unified world. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for All of Us:

* "[In this] book about global inclusivity . . . the breathtaking art carries the message throughout." —Booklist, starred review
 
* "This simple yet beautiful book reminds readers that they are not alone. . . . Children will find something different ­every time they read the poem, and feel cherished by the message of openness." —School Library Journal, starred review

"A lyrical celebration of unity and diversity . . . Purely sweet." —Kirkus Reviews

"This picture book offers an uplifting vision for a unified world." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2021

K-Gr 2—This simple yet beautiful book reminds readers that they are not alone. With a boy in a yarmulke praying to his hands, and a child next to him on a prayer rug, bowed in the Islamic manner, the book shows how differences need not be divisive, and that commonalities are everywhere.The story starts out with just one girl, "Me," and expands with one child after another, who have various hair colors and skin tones, until it presents the entire earth, stylized, with pyramids in landscapes right next to Western cities. The book cycles back to the original child: "All kinds of kids, thoughtful and free. Sometimes in groups, sometimes … just me." The illustrations sweepingly display different countries, celebrations, and people. VERDICT Children will find something different every time they read the poem, and feel cherished by the message of openness.—Elizabeth Willoughby, John P. Faber Sch., Dunellen, NJ

School Library Journal

2021-03-17
A lyrical celebration of unity and diversity.

Though Erskine’s text doesn’t specify details about the cast of characters, Boiger depicts a multiracial ensemble of children for readers to follow from page to page. The first few pages read: “Me… // can be we. / You… // can come, too. / They… // can be ‘Hey!’ / It’s all of us.” Such lines are representative of the text as a whole, which never evolves into a clear verbal story, instead offering a broad affirmation of diversity, inclusion, and community. Boiger’s illustrations imagine that community as a global one of diverse children (all are first included in the cover art), with visual cues that mark one child as Jewish, another Muslim, and another with a mobility disability. They set sail together on a ship, which can be read as a metaphorical journey through life, peaceably and joyfully taking in the wonders of the world. The text also describes ways they (and we all) can contribute to the world in which we live: “Some build things up, some create art / Some help the earth, some heal the heart.” This isn’t a book that addresses why the earth and hearts need helping and healing, perhaps glossing over hardships and struggle in its efforts to deliver a wholly positive, gentle vision of the world as it might be. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19.4% of actual size.)

Purely sweet. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews