Published by Nosy Crow, 2019.

The Same But Different Too is a gorgeous picture book that celebrates similarities and differences. There’s a lovable cast of human and animal characters who we follow throughout their day, from breakfast to bedtime. Among the book’s children and animals, there’s a shared love of food, fun and bedtime stories. Their differences include height, age and temperament. We see how some characters are faster, some are quieter and some climb trees better than others. The book is a great introduction to opposites and will help children learn to make comparisons.

With its lovely rhyming text and cheerful life-loving characters, The Same But Different Too is a joy to share and read aloud. It’s also a beautiful book.

The illustrations are delightful: expressive large-eyed characters, and freckle-faced, rosy-cheeked children. The characters are very often set against backgrounds of a single bold block of colour and this is particularly striking. The final double-page-spread that needs tilting on its side is a real visual treat!

I also really liked how inclusive the book is; one of the children is in a wheelchair and there are black, white and Asian kids. The book champions diversity and, crucially, will let all children see themselves in print; the book is representative of the world we live in.

The book helps children see that our differences make us unique and special and that, despite any differences between us, there is also much that is the same. The Same But Different Too lends itself very well to conversations about inclusivity and acceptance.

I originally reviewed this book for the BooksforTopics website (click here for link). Thank you to Nosy Crow and BooksforTopics for sending me this book to review.