On the wall of a high school where I grew up, “Everyone smiles in the same language” is written in large letters. This made me think of my children and their wandering around the world. Our travels brought us farther each time: new houses, new languages, new faces. At the beginning, it all seems strange, especially to the eyes of a child.
There are new sounds, new smells, new games. But soon, you find out that smiles express the same thing in every language. This little collection of books contains stories about accepting diversity, empathy, and the discovery of something new. So that every child can feel at home, surrounded by kindness, open hearts, and many smiles.
The Rainbow Fish
The Rainbow Fish, an illustrated book by Marcus Pfister, tells the story of a fish with splendid and colorful scales, who is admired by everyone, but is lonely because of his pride and vanity. With the advice of the wise octopus, he decides to gift some of his scales to the other fish, and discovers the joy of sharing, friendship, and empathy.
The rainbow fish learns that happiness comes, rather than from being admired, from understanding each other. His differences, that initially isolated him, become a gift to share, capable of making the ocean more beautiful and united.
This book teaches that true beauty comes from generosity and acceptance.
Errol’s Garden
Gillian Hibbs s the author and illustrator of this book, which is also available as a bilingual book in many languages. Errol is a boy who loves plants, and has many at home in vases and recycled containers. But the space is small, and he dreams of having a real garden. One day, he finds out that there is an abandoned space on the roof of his building, and he decides to turn it into a garden with the help of his little sister Tia, his father, and the neighbors.
Together, they clean the roof, collect material, and plant flowers and vegetables. At the beginning, it isn’t easy, but with teamwork they create a beautiful garden full of life. In the end, the rooftop garden becomes a space where they all meet, talk, and help each other, uniting the community thanks to the love for plants.
Who Are We?
This book by Anneke Forzani, also available as a bilingual book in many languages, explores the themes of identity, cultural diversity, and the value of empathy.
The book invites children to reflect on who we are, as people and as members of a family, a community, and a multicultural world. Through images and simple sentences, the book demonstrates that, even having different origins, traditions, and languages, we all share common emotions, dreams, and needs.
The children learn that differences in skin, clothes, food, and religion shouldn’t divide people, but strengthen understanding.
Anneke Forzani is the founder of Language Lizard, a publisher and bookseller of bilingual books in over 60 languages.
Our Diversity Makes Us Stronger
The protagonist of this illustrated book by Elizabeth Cole is a boy named Nick who just got reading glasses and is afraid that his friends will make fun of him or not accept him because of it. Throughout his school day, he observes that his classmates are different from him: some are taller, some shorter, some have different clothes or origins. Nick starts to realize that diversity doesn’t separate him from others: it makes him unique.
The book suggests that diversity in educational and social contexts is a source of richness, and an inclusive community is one that accepts differences as resources.
If you want to find other books for children, I invite you to read this collection about Changing Country with Children.
Additionally, in the category Children, the Expatclic archive contains a wide selection of information, resources, and articles that address a variety of topics regarding living abroad.
Happy reading!
Alessandra Giacchi, translated from Italian by EDV
Cover Photo by Alessandra Giacchi