You and Me Both

by Mahtab Narsimhan, Lisa Cinar (Illustrator)

Overview

This is the story of two classmates who love all the same things: building tall block towers and knocking them down; strawberry jam on toast; jumping into big puddles in their matching boots. The narrator and his best friend, Jamal, might as well be twins—they have so much in common! And they always stick together.



When Jamal gets a haircut, his best friend gets his cut the same way. They’re sure their teacher will never be able to tell them apart. The vibrant, playful illustrations eventually reveal that the boys each have a different skin color.



Inspired by a true story that went viral on social media, about two boys with different skin colors who got the same haircut thinking it would make them identical, this is a joyful story about friendship, diversity, and how the things we share are more than skin-deep.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771473668
Publisher:	Owlkids Books
Publication date:	04/15/2020
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)
Lexile:	AD450L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

MAHTAB NARSIMHAN is an award-winning author with numerous critically acclaimed books nominated for awards, including The Third Eye, which won the Silver Birch Fiction Award. She is inspired by life, love, and the desire to make sense of the world through stories. Mahtab is deeply committed to representing diversity in her books. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

LISA CINAR is an illustrator and owner of the online shop Draw Me a Lion. She has written and illustrated several picture books in addition to the Clara Humble series. Lisa lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

02/24/2020

The preschooler narrator and classmate Jamal aren’t just friends—they’re “twins.” “I love strawberry jam on toast. He gobbles it up too,” writes Narsimhan (Embrace the Chicken) as text sprawls and stacks in exuberant declarations. The kids have matching boots for puddle jumping (“Splish, splash, splat!”) and matching haircuts (“Our teacher will never tell us apart now”). And, in the ultimate test of a tight friendship, they don’t even fight over who gets to use the crocodile pillow at nap time: “Its jaws are big enough for both of us.” Cinar (Cooking with Bear) draws the two friends as they might themselves, with rounded heads, wide, single line smiles, a coiled line for hair, and triangular noses that stretch from their mouths to their foreheads. But she also hints at the ever-changing, ever-lively nature of childhood friendships by continually shifting the duo’s skin colors—lavender and soft orange in one vignette, pink and lemon yellow in another, and two shades of brown at the end. As the title subtly suggests, the ideal “twin” doesn’t have to be carbon copy—just thoroughly simpatico. Ages 3–6. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Written for little ones, the words are spare but the meaning is wonderfully clear. The bright and bold illustrations enhance every delightful page. This book is a standout!"

Mighty Village

02/21/2020

PreS-Gr 1—The unnamed protagonist and Jamal go to school together and have the same likes (building towers and knocking them down, eating strawberry jam on toast, splashing in rain puddles) and dislikes (carrots). They have matching boots and the same haircut, and at the end of the day, saying goodbye is hard for each of them. It's a classic tale of best friends right up until the end. The final two-page spread depicts a brown and a tan child eating ice cream together with the text, "Twins should always stick together." The end is confusing, since it's not clear if the boys are best friends who call themselves twins, or if they are fraternal twins. They don't look like each other, and neither of them looks like the other kids in the story. The children on the previous pages are depicted in various shades including yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and orange. Cinar's illustrations mirror the text in an abstract way. They feature lots of black outlines and imaginative use of color. VERDICT A slightly confusing story of best friends. Purchase as needed.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2020-02-09
Best friends forever?

The unnamed first-person narrator loves best friend Jamal, and Jamal loves the narrator, too. It’s difficult to track which child is which in the busy illustrations, and physical attributes that might help with this task are inconsistent from spread to spread. For the most part, however, one child (perhaps the speaker, given how text is placed) is usually a purple hue with orange squiggles for hair while the other appears orange with purple squiggles for hair. What is clear is that the pals like the same things, and they adore each other. They’re sad at the school day’s end because they must say goodbye to each other. The final page reads: “Twins should always stick together.” This concluding spread shows the children, their arms around each other, with the most naturalistic appearance they’ve ever had. One child has dark brown skin and curly, perhaps afro-textured hair while the other has light brown skin, freckles, and similarly curly hair. It’s hard to know what readers will make of this conclusion. Are Jamal and the narrator not, in fact, to be parted at the end of the day? Are they children of separated parents in a custody arrangement that separates them as well? Is “twins” to be read metaphorically? Even fairly sophisticated child readers will find themselves wondering just what’s going on, and the potential racial difference implied in the picture only further complicates the readings they may struggle to apply.

Thoroughly opaque. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews

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