Like

by Annie Barrows, Leo Espinosa (Illustrator)

Overview

From bestselling author Annie Barrows and Pura Belpré Honor award recipient Leo Espinosa, this funny yet thought-provoking picture book offers a sequence of outlandishly fun compare-and-contrasts that show how humans are much more like each other than we are different.

A NEW WAY OF SEEING: The use of comparison and contrast gives readers a new lens through which to see themselves and others.

HUMOR WITH HEART: Annie Barrows uses her trademarked humor to get readers laughing and thinking.

GREAT READ-ALOUD: The silly and surprising text is the perfect read-aloud for homes and classrooms.

Perfect for:

• Parents
• Grandparents
• Gift-givers
• Educators

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452163376
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	44
Sales rank:	169,277
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Annie Barrows has written scads of books for children, including the New York Times bestselling chapter book series Ivy + Bean, as well as the Iggy series, a young adult novel, some picture books, and a couple of books involving magic. If Annie could be like something else on earth, she would probably choose an excavator. Or a tiger. To find out more about Annie, visit www.anniebarrows.com.

Leo Espinosa is a New York Times bestselling illustrator. He was awarded a prestigious Pura Belpré Honor for the picture book Islandborn, written by Junot Díaz, and his illustrations have been featured in numerous publications, including the New Yorker. In addition to his love of drawing, Leo enjoys pedaling up and down the mountains around Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lives; so you could say he’s both like a pencil and a bicycle.

Hometown:

Berkeley, CA

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1962

Place of Birth:

San Diego, CA

Education:

University of California at Berkeley, B.A. in Medieval History; Mills College, M.F.A. in Creative Writing

Editorial Reviews

07/18/2022

As a child narrator, portrayed with light brown skin, muses on what things humans are “like,” the whole world is delightfully up for grabs. People, the kid posits, are not at all like tin cans (“If you open up our lids, nothing good happens”), a little like swimming pools (all that water), more like mushrooms, less like excavators, and comparatively similar to hyenas. Every “like” has a catch, however—hyenas neither talk nor “get embarrassed, even when they’re caught eating something off the ground.” But people take similarity to a wholly different—and connective—level. Even factoring in differences, says the child, “I am more like you than I am like most of the things on Earth.” (Even a mushroom.) Barrow’s (the Ivy and Bean series) sweetly irreverent narrator should turn readers into eager students of classification, while—in illustrations that highlight humans of varying abilities, ages, body types, and skin tones—Espinosa’s (The World Belonged to Us) poster-like colors and midcentury modern playfulness make this volume far more fun than any academic compare-and-contrast exercise. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Liza Dawson, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Espinosa’s bright retro illustrations [are] individually distinct….A strong argument for the logic of inclusivity, founded on our having more in common than in conflict.” - Kirkus Reviews 

? “This uproarious picture book works on kids’ funny bones to get across the message that, despite any superficial differences, we humans are all alike. . . . The book’s silliness makes its argument accessible to all.” -Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher

2022-08-17
A child ruminates over things in the world that are like and unlike them.

Looking up from the page with an engaging smile, the brown-skinned narrator greets viewers as fellow humans and then, in a wandering train of thought, reflects on how we are different from most things—like a can of soup (“If you open up our lids, nothing good happens”)—but do have at least some similarities to, for instance, a mushroom or a hyena. This leads to ways in which people are distinctively alike, from wearing clothes to being embarrassed sometimes. And, all things considered, aren’t people more alike than different? In keeping with that insight, everyone in Espinosa’s bright retro illustrations is likewise individually distinct, from the young narrator’s parents (one is brown-skinned; the other is light-skinned) to each of the 15 diverse passersby in a climactic crowd scene, but at the same time recognizably human. “I am more like you than I am like most of the things on Earth,” the young observer concludes. “I’m glad.” For readers who come away trying to think of other traits that define us, Susan Verde’s even more searching I Am Human (2018), illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, makes a helpful follow-up. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A strong argument for the logic of inclusivity, founded on our having more in common than in conflict. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews