All Are Welcome

May 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.

June 1, 2018
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)

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August 1, 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

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

mrsbraunsclass9 - Heaven: You have to read All Are Welcome because it's In LaK'ech and nice. It doesn't matter what you wear and what you look like and that you eat. You're still allowed to go to school. Because if you didn't you could die. Because if you did you could get money and food. Some people don't go to school because they have to work to get money. Sometimes when you work they give you money because you are working hard. You go to school to learn to write and to be smart, like doing math. That's why you should always go to school. Everybody is welcome at school. Even if you don't go to school just ask your parents. That's why you should read All Are Welcome. I give it five stars.

May 1, 2018
Preschool-G Meeting a challenging topic with buoyant enthusiasm, this colorful picture book celebrates a school where all the students from a diverse community feel welcome. The rhyming verses create a sense of unity, as if students and staff are speaking in a happy chorus: No matter how you start your day. / What you wear when you play. / Or if you come from far away. / All are welcome here. / In our classroom safe and sound, / Fears are lost and hope is found. / Raise your hand, we'll go around. / All are welcome here. While some verses are complete within one double-page spread and others extend over several, their upbeat tone and inclusive message remain consistent throughout the book. The illustrations are big, cheerful collages created with acrylic paint, ink, crayon, and digital elements. In many scenes, white backgrounds brighten the colors and make the individual figures of children stand out more distinctly. On the book jacket's reverse side, a poster vividly proclaims the book's theme: All are welcome. A lively, timely picture book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)