Title: Along Came A Different
Author: Tom McLaughlin
Published: May 1st 2018
Publisher: Bloomsbury Australia
Pages: 32
Genres: Children (0-5)
RRP: $21.99
Rating: 4 stars
Reds love being red. Yellows love being yellow. And Blues love being blue. The problem is that they just don’t like each other.
But one day, along comes a different colour who likes Reds, Yellows and Blues, and suddenly everything starts to change.
Maybe being different doesn’t mean you can’t be friends …
A very special picture book that supports the adage that there is more that unites us than divides us. Along Came a Different just goes to show how much better we can all be when we come together to find common ground as friends. Every bookshelf should have a copy.
My review:
Established author and illustrator in the children’s book field, Tom McLaughlin has released a brand new picture book for younger readers (0-5 category) titled, Along Came A Different. It is a visually appealing storybook that zones on in concepts of difference and friendship. Along Came A Different is presented in a format that is very accessible to young readers.
When Along Came A Different opens, we learn that the red shapes adore being red. They love nothing more than to show off their red hats, share red songs and eat as many red apples as they can. Life is happy until something different enters their world, a yellow shape! And then long behold another very different colour makes their presence known, the blues. Eventually chaos erupts and upsets the equilibrium. Things begin to get silly, really silly and before long a set of rules are drawn up by the colours. This seems to work, but for only a little while until yet another different colour arrives on the scene, followed by another colour and a rainbow. Eventually, all the colours begin to realise that rules can be forgotten and it’s about enjoying yourself. The final message that is left with the reader is that being different is ‘the best thing ever’!
Although Tom McLaughlin, the author and illustrator of this fantastic picture book Along Came A Different, has created plenty of children’s books, this is my first experience of his work. I really enjoyed this picture book. Not only did it entertain my children and I, it is also a resourceful book that I could use in a teaching setting.
There are plenty of teachable moments to be drawn from Along Came A Different. As an educator in an early childhood setting, I could envisage using this text to highlight concepts of same & different, rules, friendship, colour and shape. These ideas are all wrapped up in a format that is accessible for the readership it is intended for, those in the young reader category, aged 5 and under.
Not only is Tom McLaughlin a talented author, he is also a gifted illustrator. I was impressed by the illustrations in this picture book. They were bold, attractive to the eye and in keeping with the overall message of the novel. The text print itself is eye-catching and the use of capitals in places, as well as bold type front increases the readers interest in Along Came A Different.
The simplicity of this text, the subtle messages on friendship and celebrating differences was enough to convince me to endorse Along Came A Different. Add this one to your family library or teaching shelf if you are searching for a picture book that embraces difference, in a fun format.
Along Came A Different by McLaughlin was published on 1st May 2018 by Bloomsbury Australia. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Along Came A Different, Tom McLaughlin, visit here.
*I wish to thank Bloomsbury Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
