All Are Welcome

by Alexandra Penfold, Suzanne Kaufman (Illustrator)

Overview

Join the call for a better world with this New York Times bestselling picture book about a school where diversity and inclusion are celebrated.

Discover a school where—no matter what—young children have a place, have a space, and are loved and appreciated.

Follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where students from all backgrounds learn from and celebrate each other's traditions. A school that shows the world as we will make it to be.

"Penfold and Kaufman have outdone themselves in delivering a vital message in today's political climate." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A lively, timely picture book." —Booklist

"A great read-aloud selection to start the year and revisit time and again." —School Library Journal
 
“This is a must-read for pre-school and elementary classrooms everywhere. An important book that celebrates diversity and inclusion in a beautiful, age-appropriate way.” – Trudy Ludwig, author of The Invisible Boy

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525579649
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/10/2018
Pages:	44
Sales rank:	253
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alexandra Penfold is the author of Eat, Sleep, Poop (Knopf, 2016) and the forthcoming picture books The Littlest Viking (Knopf) and Everybody's Going to the Food Truck Fest (FSG). She is also a literary agent at Upstart Crow, where one of her clients is Suzanne Kaufman! Learn more about Alex on Twitter at @agentpenfold.

Suzanne Kaufman is an author, illustrator, and animator. Over the years she's done everything from animating special effects for Universal Television and the Discovery Channel to animating award-winning video games for children. She's the illustrator of a number of books for children including Samanthasaurus Rex by B. B. Mandell, the forthcoming Naughty Claudine by Patrick Jennings, 100 Bugs by Kate Narita and her own book, Confiscated! among others. Learn more about Suzanne online at suzannekaufman.com or on Twitter at @lilmonkeydraws.

Editorial Reviews

05/14/2018
Penfold (Eat, Sleep, Poop) and Kaufman (I Love Monkey) celebrate a school community as a great common ground where families of all kinds connect and share in their children’s educational journey: “No matter how you start your day./ What you wear when you play./ Or if you come from far away./ All are welcome here.” Every child is different—readers get a brief glimpse of children’s lives away from the classroom—but everyone shares a love for story time, recess, creating green slime and volcanoes, and making friends. Though one of Penfold’s rhymes (“We’re part of a community/ Our strength is our diversity./ A shelter from adversity”) sounds more like a protest cheer than a poem, she is a passionate advocate for e pluribus unum throughout the story; the book’s refrain of “All are welcome here” feels both deeply reassuring and almost radical in our polarized time. Kaufman smoothly choreographs her large cast throughout numerous scenes—including a school night potluck, as showcased in a spacious double gatefold—and it’s fun to follow one friendship in particular as it blossoms between two girls. The inside of the book jacket doubles as a poster featuring the entire cast. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"Penfold and Kaufman have outdone themselves in delivering a vital message in today's political climate."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Celebrate a school community as a great common ground where families of all kinds connect and share in their children’s educational journey…. the book’s refrain of “All are welcome here” feels both deeply reassuring and almost radical in our polarized time.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

08/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Readers follow school kids from a rich diversity of backgrounds in this exuberant and inclusive work. Children wear yarmulkes, dress in hijabs, and some use wheelchairs to get around. They play together, learn together, and share their different cultural traditions. The students learn about and take part in a Dragon dance for the Lunar New Year. The book also depicts a wide variety of family types; there are children with a single parent, those with two moms or two dads, or kids who have parents from different racial backgrounds. The pictures are bright and eye-catching, using a variety of media (acrylic paints, ink, crayons, and collage) to create the colorful cartoon images. The easy flowing rhyme says it all: "We're part of a community./Our strength is our diversity./A shelter from adversity./All are welcome here." The text and illustrations will prompt many thoughtful questions from young ones. VERDICT A positive book to have in any library collection, and a great read-aloud selection to start the year and revisit time and again.—Barbara Spiri, Southborough Library, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2018-05-14
A lively city school celebrates its diversity.Front endpapers show adult caregivers walking their charges to school, the families a delightful mix that includes interracial, same-sex, and heterosexual couples as well as single caregivers; the rear endpapers assemble them again at the conclusion of a successful schoolwide evening potluck. In between, the rhyming verses focus on aspects of a typical school day, always ending with the titular phrase: "Time for lunch—what a spread! / A dozen different kinds of bread. / Pass it around till everyone's fed. / All are welcome here." Indeed, this school is diversity exemplified. Several kids point to their home countries on a world map, and some wear markers of their cultural or religious groups: There's a girl in hijab, a boy wearing a Sikh patka, and a boy in a kippah. A rainbow of hair colors and skin tones is in evidence, and children with disabilities are also included: a blind boy, a girl in a wheelchair, and several kids with glasses. What is most wonderful, though, is the way they interact with one another without regard to their many differences. Kaufman's acrylic, ink, crayon, collage, and Photoshop illustrations bring the many personalities in this school community to life. "You have a place here. / You have a space here. / You are welcome here."Penfold and Kaufman have outdone themselves in delivering a vital message in today's political climate. Let's hope more people, starting with this picture book's audience, embrace it. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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