It's Okay To Be Different (Todd Parr Classics) Paperback – Picture Book, April 1, 2009

Bought for my autistic kiddo to understand diversity, differences, being adopted and how we are all alike too. Book was a big hit! "It's okay to have no hair" came in handy! Met a boy with no hair. My son said pointing with a smile "it's okay to have no hair!" It was a sweet interaction indeed.The books were in pristine condition too.

This book shows young children that it is okay to be "different" in many ways. There are colorful, interesting pages with examples of people with different color hair, someone in a wheel chair, and my favorite--different types of families. This is especially important for children who come from non-traditional households like single parent households, same-sex households, or whom are adopted. There is a page on being adopted but you can basically add any story to that page if adoption does not apply.The words are simple and because the pictures are open to interpretation you can add your own story to them. Whatever you need to explain--for instance a disability in addition to the wheel chair, or a non-traditional family arrangement on the pages with two "moms" and two "dads" that can easily be interpreted as gay parents or a birth mom and an everyday (or adoptive) mom. Or, any two caregivers if a child comes from a family with no mom and no dad (for instance grandparent and aunt or uncle).I really like this book because for small children it is often difficult to understand these kinds of differences and this book makes is okay to talk about them and opens up space to discuss them in ways appropriate to the child's age. It also gives them the ability to start piecing together their own story to share with classmates, because these things inevitable come up in school.I first ran across this book in a preschool class. The teacher used it to discuss descriptions (like hair color, clothing, etc.) because of the colorful pictures but also to make the point of the book and it is a great resource for both academic learning and social learning. I'm very happy with it and it keeps my 4 year old's attention and sparks more conversations, which let me in on how he understands his relationships with other people.

I bought this book as a present for my Preschool class. We made a Christmas Tree related to the book. The illustrations are so inclusive to any type of student and they all loved seeing the different types of classmates my students could be exposed to at any school. The book is so colorful, fun, and is very child friendly! Todd Parr is great and I love all his books.

It’s Okay to Be Different is another hit from Todd Parr. The illustrations are fun and the message is powerful and affirming. A must for any preschool or kindergarten shelf.

My daughter is 6, she has grown up with one of her closest friends having Down syndrome. But when she made her way to public school in first grade there were difference in religion, clothing, appearances, and language that she was being faced with. And as all children do, she started to ask questions about why her new friends weren't like her old friends. So we bought this book after seeing it in a store, and she loved it!!!!As a mommy, I loved it because t blended serious differences with silly ones, that helped keep her attention. The drawings assist in keeping her attention and created a visual representation of what the book was talking about.Weeks after purchasing and reading the book, she brings it up and talks about it when we are out and about and see things that make every person different. It really helped me explain mental illnesses, religion, and other things that make people different, but not visually different. It also helped her to defend a friend at school that was getting picked on for not celebrating Halloween, she explained to the kids about all of the ways that people can be different. One proud mommy!!!! And a grateful mommy for a book that helped simplify a difficult conversation.

Great book and my grandson loved it.