The Sandwich Swap

( 43 )

Overview

Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what's that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them?

The smallest things can pull us apart-until we learn that friendship is far more powerful than difference. In a glorious three-page gatefold at ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what's that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them?

The smallest things can pull us apart-until we learn that friendship is far more powerful than difference. In a glorious three-page gatefold at the end of the book, Salma, Lily, and all their classmates come together in the true spirit of tolerance and acceptance.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
In her author's note, Jordanian royal Al Abdullah explains that an incident from her childhood inspired this story about best friends who do everything together at school, including eat lunch. Lily's choice of sandwich is peanut butter and jelly while Salma's is hummus on pita, and each girl thinks the other's fare is “weird” or “gross.” When Lily finally vocalizes her opinion, the two exchange heated words, leading schoolmates to take sides and toss out nastier insults (“You look funny! You dress dumb!”), eventually escalating into a messy, cafeteria-wide food fight. Message trumps realism: the speed with which the girls make peace—after sampling one another's sandwiches—is as unlikely as the food fight itself. A foldout spread amplifies the readily apparent themes of acceptance and sharing, as the girls and their classmates enjoy a buffet of international foods. Featuring pastel hues, Tusa's (Fred Stays with Me!) wispy mixed-media artwork assuredly depicts the bond between the protagonists and adds dollops of humor—such as the food that gets wedged into the stern lunch lady's bouffant—to this well-intentioned if predictable story. Ages 3-7. (Apr.)
Publishers Weekly
In her author's note, Jordanian royal Al Abdullah explains that an incident from her childhood inspired this story about best friends who do everything together at school, including eat lunch. Lily's choice of sandwich is peanut butter and jelly while Salma's is hummus on pita, and each girl thinks the other's fare is “weird” or “gross.” When Lily finally vocalizes her opinion, the two exchange heated words, leading schoolmates to take sides and toss out nastier insults (“You look funny! You dress dumb!”), eventually escalating into a messy, cafeteria-wide food fight. Message trumps realism: the speed with which the girls make peace—after sampling one another's sandwiches—is as unlikely as the food fight itself. A foldout spread amplifies the readily apparent themes of acceptance and sharing, as the girls and their classmates enjoy a buffet of international foods. Featuring pastel hues, Tusa's (Fred Stays with Me!) wispy mixed-media artwork assuredly depicts the bond between the protagonists and adds dollops of humor—such as the food that gets wedged into the stern lunch lady's bouffant—to this well-intentioned if predictable story. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)
Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
Although Salma and Lily are best friends in school, and do everything together, their lunches are very different. Lily secretly thinks that Salma's hummus and pita sandwiches are yucky, while Salma thinks that Lily's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are gross. One day, when they finally tell each other how they feel, they stop doing everything together. Other students begin to take sides, insulting each other, until there is a terrible food fight. Ashamed, at lunch the next day the girls bravely agree to try each other's sandwich. Finding them "delicious" and "heavenly," they meet with the principal to plan a special event, celebrated in a final foldout. Tusa's colored drawings clearly define the appealing characters of the two girls as they dominate most of the double-page scenes. The other children are supporting actors in the drama as they add insults to fuel the wild food fight. They also join in the final international buffet, with flags identifying the spreads on the table. A note from Her Majesty supplies the personal experience that is the basis of the story, along with the hope for understanding and the tolerance of foreign or strange experiences. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2—The day Lily stops eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich to tell Salma her hummus and pita sandwich looks yucky—and vice versa—is the day they stop being friends. Their collaborative art projects end. They no longer play on the swings or jump rope together, and, at lunch time, they sit at different tables. As their story spreads across the school, so does intolerance. Students begin choosing sides in the cafeteria and calling each other "Jelly heads" and "Chickpea brains." When the two girls get caught in the middle of a food fight and called to the principal's office, they decide it's time to make some changes. The first is accomplished over their sandwich lunch; the second, over a multicultural smorgasbord, the latter depicted on a foldout of an enormous table laden with dishes and flags. Soft watercolor cartoon illustrations portray a lively student body and a slightly forbidding principal. This engaging title reminds children that having the courage to try new things can result in positive experiences.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada
Kirkus Reviews
Like all best friends, Lily and Salma do everything together: They draw pictures, play on the swings, jump rope and eat lunch together. But Lily eats a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich while Salma eats a hummus-and-pita sandwich. Each girl thinks the other's looks yucky! When they say so, the friendship splits, schoolkids take sides and someone yells FOOD FIGHT! Salma and Lily feel ashamed, especially when they are called into the principal's office. The next day they sample each other's sandwiches and declare them delicious. They go to the principal's office again, this time with an idea to share-a gatefold depicts a long picnic table overflowing with ethnic food and happy kids. Tusa's whimsical illustrations spice up the story. Her large, vivacious drawings contribute character and comic touches, especially to the food fight, but there is one notable omission in this story of cultural understanding: Absent from the picnic table's array of flags identifying ethnicities (which include Iceland, Greece and Mexico among others, in addition to the United States and Jordan) is the Israeli flag-a hugely sad missed opportunity. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781423124849
  • Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
  • Publication date: 4/27/2010
  • Pages: 32
  • Sales rank: 53,385
  • Age range: 3 - 5 Years
  • Product dimensions: 8.86 (w) x 11.28 (h) x 0.45 (d)

Meet the Author

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah (www.queenrania.jo) of Jordan is dedicated to defending the welfare of children around the world: she is UNICEF's Eminent Advocate for Children. Known also as a champion of cross-cultural tolerance and a campaigner for global education, Her Majesty collaborates with international organizations and grassroots projects in these areas.

Kelly DiPucchio (www.kellydipucchio.com) has written several children's picture books, including the New York Times best-seller Grace for President, Bed Hogs, and Mrs. McBloom, Clean Up Your Classroom! Kelly lives in Macomb Township, Michigan.

Tricia Tusa has more than forty children's books to her name, including In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck, which garnered a Charlotte Zolotow Honor from the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, and Fred Stays with Me by Nancy Coffelt, which received a Boston Globe HornBook Honor. Tricia lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 43 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(19)

4 Star

(2)

3 Star

(8)

2 Star

(10)

1 Star

(4)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 43 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 3, 2010

    Very Disappointed

    I was so excited to purchase this book after seeing Queen Riana's interview on GMA last week. I intended to give copies as gifts to my daughter's kindergarten teachers. However, after purchasing and reading the book for myself last night I was very let down. The story is very blah. I am 100% behind teaching children that different is ok but this book does not engage or really get the point across. To top it off I was very upset to find that author uses the words STUPID and UGLY to get her point across. These words are not allowed in our home or in my children's vocabulary. Overall, not the great lesson that I heard in the interview. Very disappointing.

    5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 16, 2010

    Sandwich Swap is a fun, delightful, lesson.

    When 2 girls find each other's lunch "yucky", name-calling and food fight follow. After cleaning up the mess, they offer to share half a sandwich and find it tastes good. A picnic with all kinds of foods fills the last page along with flags of lands of origin. Good story for reading aloud, discussion of manners, sharing, tolerance, etc.

    Also great intro to the country Jordan and to show that royals work too. I used this with gr. 2. It was a big hit.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 16, 2010

    Makes you remember trading food at lunchtime at school.

    Wonderful story about true friendship and understanding each other. Also enjoyed the author's note at the end of story. It's nice to know that a "Queen", is concerned about peace. What a wonderful and simple lesson to help teach to children. Hopefully, adults will read this book to children and explain it to them and also learn themselves.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 16, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Possum Magic

    A story both charming and important that reveals the simplest beginnings of cultural intolerance when two good friends just don't understand eachother's choice in foods.

    Two girls from different cultures are the best of friends, but they do not share the same taste in lunches. While one eats her beloved peanut butter, the other enjoys her hummus. Their little disapproval spreads to others, and the story becomes quite the lesson in intolerance. This book is suited to young children, but could also find a place in upper elementary classrooms as a discussion starter on the simple bases for intolerance, and even war. It makes you want to head to the market to buy a variety of foods that represent other lands, starting with peanut butter and hummus!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 14, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Whoever You Are
    Different Just like Me
    A Rainbow of Friends
    The Sneetches & Other Stories
    If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People

    A Celebration of Cultural Diversity!

    I first heard about "The Sandwich Swap" via a Good Morning America broadcast in which Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan was interviewed by Robin Roberts. Queen Rania's humanitarian work and dedication to making education accessible to children who are deprived of such opportunities across the globe appealed to me as an art educator. Her children's book "The Sandwich Swap" is part of her effort to promote cross-cultural understanding among all children. Her uplifting and inspiring picture book, illustrated by Tricia Tusa, promotes a positive message about accepting and appreciating the differences among people. Queen Rania's story is based on her real life experiences as a young girl growing up in Jordan. She envisions herself as 'Salma' in "The Sandwich Swap" and we meet her childhood best friend called 'Lily'. One day the girls' friendship is put to the test as a lunchtime conversation becomes an argument about sandwiches, during which each girl calls the other's sandwich "Gross!" Salma and Lily come from dissimilar cultural backgrounds and their sandwiches reflect this difference: Salma brings a hummus sandwich to school while Lily eats peanut butter and jelly. Young readers will learn to see beyond differences and build lasting relationships with their friends.

    As an art educator, I found Tricia Tusa's illustrations well designed and delightful to look at. When I initially paged through the book, the arrangement of delicate drawings on each page flowed gracefully and kept me interested. The two-page spread "food fight" scene especially caught my eye as the colors, lines, shapes, and textures reflected the chaos and excitement of the action! Children ages 4-8 will enjoy this book-as will their parents, teachers, and big brothers and sisters! Pre-school or early elementary classroom teachers would be wise to incorporate this book in their curricula, along with accompanying discussions of cultural differences and appreciation of cultural diversity in students' everyday lives. In a globalized society that is more and more affected by different cultures and lifestyles colliding, it is never too early to educate tolerance and appreciation for all people.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 8, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Charlie the Caterpillar

    A must read!

    This is a must read for generations to come. It is a great story to help break down barriers of ethnicity and cultural differences to show that we are really only the all the same! A great way to teach anyone this lesson.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 3, 2010

    Queen Rania does it all!

    Great story! Well written. Excellent message. We could all learn something from Salma & Lily!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 24, 2011

    Highly Recommended - You must check it out!!

    Children will gain a broader knowledge base about other cultures and gain new understanding, respect and appreciation for peoples differences in a kid friendly way. The illustrations are wonderful and engaging. Parents and teachers will love this book!

    Bookworm10TR

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  • Posted July 31, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    Carla's Sandwich
    The Peanut-Free Caf??

    The Taste of Friendship

    Based on a royal childhood memory, The Sandwich Swap, by Queen Rania Al Abdullah with Kelly DiPucchio, is a delectable delight about two simple sandwiches. But could peanut butter and humus come between a friendship? Fast friends Salma and Lily find themselves with a dining dilemma: Each silently thinks that the other's sandwich is "weird and yucky, strange and gross." It's not until they tell one another what they think that "hurt feelings turned mad," bystanders took sides, insults started flying, and so did food. The food fight lands the friends in the Principal's office not once, but twice; first to make restitution, then to make a suggestion. And so began their International Day, so that the children could showcase foods from different cultures and expose one another to tempting new textures and tastes.

    Food for thought: I was a little leery about this book when I first read it because of the ugly words and the ensuing food fight. After all, do I really want to plant ideas about throwing food as an option? After more reflection, I believe that turning these behaviors into talking points with your children gives this story even more meat. Use it as a springboard for discussion about what our actions and words can do to each other, both positively and negatively.

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  • Posted May 15, 2010

    Book

    I thought the book was for an 8 year old 2nd grade reader. It was more for my 7 year old granddaughter who is in 1st grade. We will see how she likes it.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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    Posted August 2, 2010

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    Posted April 29, 2010

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    Posted April 29, 2010

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    Posted May 1, 2010

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