“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” C.S. Lewis
Children books are the gem stones of literature. I strongly believe that a good book written for children is a book an adult can read as well.
Aside from that fact, I believe a good children’s book has to have a sweet story, an adventure maybe, and most importantly: a valuable lesson. I read one such book recently, and here’s what I can tell you about it.
So many people, all different.
In a world populated by seven billion people, it is easy to feel like you are the same as everybody else. But if you look closely enough, you will find that we are all different in our own way. It might be a physical difference, or it might be the family we grew up in. It might be our emotions, or the way we react to things. What you need to remember, is that there is no one else like you.
But being different is not necessarily a bad thing.
Siska Goeminne manages to give a beautiful description of some of the differences you might find among all those people that inhabit our world. This is a simple, yet effective and nice way to show a child (and why not?even an adult) that every person is unique, and this uniqueness should be celebrated.
Another thing I got from this book is that we shouldn’t be jealous of what others have. As seen in the part talking about families, you might have a lot of family members and wish for quiet, or you might be an only child and wish you had a big family.
Everyone wishes for something different, but there’s always something good about what we have. Consequently, the story helps us become a little more grateful for what we actually have.
All in all, this is a book I would definitely buy for a child. Beautifully written, filled with wonderful ideas and definitely worth sitting down and reading it with your child.