Book Review for Whoever You Are

Book Review by Allie Davis
MLIS 5653 Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fox, Mem. 1997. Whoever You Are. Ill. by Leslie Staub. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 9780152007874

LINK TO AUTHOR
Mem Fox:   http://memfox.com/

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
     Within the text of this short children's book, author Mem Fox creates an open narrative to all children around the world.  She calls them "Little One" and addresses them repetitiously as "whoever you are, wherever you are."  The goal and purpose of this sweet book is to bring awareness to children everywhere the goal of common humanity, that all children laugh and cry.  All children play and learn.  All children eat and sleep, etc.  Even though every child is different, they may not speak the same or live in the same type of house or country, but all children feel the same emotions everyday.  The text itself weaves its way around the whole world via the illustrations, including a mysterious, multicultural floating man, who carries children through the sky to view the children of other areas in the world.  The children are neither good nor evil, intellectual or repressed, or even addressed in a socio-economic light.  Rather, all the children, regardless of race or culture, are treated with equality and sameness. 
     Many aspects of different cultures are present within the book.  Illustrations of cultural architectures, education types, lands, and languages are all present.  No specific culture is mentioned, rather illustrations show depictions of possible cultures from Africa, Latin-America, Asia, and Europe.  The setting of each culture is richly shown through Leslie Staub's gessoed papers. Staub created hand-carved frames from plaster, wood, and faux gems which surround each page of text and illustrations. These illustrations cover the pages from top to bottom, the text being incorporated into the pictures so as not to take away from the vivid meaning apparent within the visual. 
     Cultural values are present, but again are only addressed specifically in the pictures.  Animals specific to certain cultures are pictured, as well as, foods from certain cultures.  Pictures of writing in different languages are visible with the culture presented on the specific illustrations.  Clothing is also accurately detailed in a rich array of custom and traditional dress.  These values are present to help instill the theme of the book ,that even though skin type, or languages, or houses might be different,  children smile the same, and they laugh the same.  They hurt and cry everywhere in the big, wide world, but joy and love are the same throughout the world. 
     The story that Fox creates is one of reflection for both children and adults alike.  It draws the reader in with pictures that weave a beautiful theme of cultural acceptance for every person on earth, no matter where they are from or their background.  It celebrates culture and bonds to help unite all generations and humanity.  The book's appealing pictures illustrate both the uniqueness of individual cultures and the sameness of humans everywhere.  These illustrations are culturally correct in terms of the most well-known aspects of each culture, but as a negative, there is really no further depth into these specific cultures, leaving it at the first level of multiculturalism if the book were to be used in the classroom.  
   Overall, I really loved this book so much that I bought my daughter and son-in-law a copy for their future children.  My son-in-law is a first generation American with a Hispanic background.  His parents and grandparents were from Mexico, although his mother was raised in America.  His grandmother on his mother's side recently turned 80, and for her birthday, she said that all she wanted was to get her citizenship, and her children helped her to do that.  This book beautifully exhibits how all cultures and people are the same, no matter what or where they are from, just as my grandchildren hopefully will learn.   

AWARDS 
I could not find any awards specific to the book Whoever You Are, but as an author, her first book was Possum Magic, published in 1983, and she has written numerous children's and adult books since then. Her work has been highly acclaimed, receiving the 1990 Dromkeen Medal for distinguished services to children's literature; a 1991 Advance Australia Award for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature; a medal in the 1993 Australia Day Honours awards, for services to the cultural life of Australia, and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 1996.      

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Horn Book Magazine, "A singsong voice speaks in vague, feel-good terms about how children around the world are different yet similar in fundamental ways. It is hard to argue with such general assertions as 'Joys are the same' and 'Pain is the same,' even though they somehow don't ring completely true. The whimsical, sunny paintings, surrounded by gold hand-carved frames, outshine the vapid text." (C) 1997 
• School Library Journal, “Fox has composed a simple refrain to celebrate human connections in this lovely picture book. "Little one, whoever you are," she explains, there are children all over the world who may look different, live in different homes and different climates, go to different schools, and speak in different tongues but all children love, smile, laugh, and cry. Their joys, pain, and blood are the same, "whoever they are, wherever they are, all over the world." Staub's oil paintings complement the simple text. She uses bright matte colors for the landscapes and portraits, placing them in gold borders, set with jewels and molded from plaster and wood. These frames enclose the single- and double-page images and echo the rhythm of the written phrases. Within the covers of the book, the artist has created an art gallery that represents in color, shape, and texture, the full range of human experience.‘"© Oct. 1, 1997
• Booklist, "A lyrical text counsels children, "Little one, whoever you are, wherever you are, there are little ones just like you all over the world." Despite differences, the hearts, smiles, and tears of these other children are "just like yours." On the first page, the vibrant oil-on-gessoed-paper illustrations portray four children with different skin, eye, and hair colors but with remarkably similar facial structure. Accompanied by an adult, this group appears in miniature on almost every spread, floating through the air as they view people in a variety of traditional, almost stereotypical settings. On the last double-page spread, the children are reunited with their mothers, who, even as adults, have a resemblance that reminds readers that grown-ups, too, are the same in their humanity...will make this especially suitable for classrooms." (C) Oct. 1, 1997

CONNECTIONS

Use as an introduction to personal and social issues, individualism, and multiculturalism.

https://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=whoever+you+are+mem+fox

http://www.becon-itv.org/dimensions/programs/rr/lesson01.htm

•  Ask students to draw and color what they think is the most important message or information in the book. 
• In a Venn Diagram, ask students to write those things that make us unique or different in the outside parts of the circles and in the middle portion of the diagram ask students to write similarities that they share. 
•  Extend the Venn- make a collage.  Distribute magazines, pictures, scissors and coloring tools. Ask students to paste images in the areas of the outside parts of the diagram that show our differences and paste images in the center of the diagram that represent our similarities.

Gather more Mem Fox titles to read such as:

·       Time for Bed. ISBN  0152010661

·       Koala Lou. ISBN 0152000763
·       Possum Magic. ISBN: 1862910952

 Gather similar multicultural books to read such as:

·       Lester, Julius.  Let's Talk About Race. ISBN 0064462269
·       Katz, Karen.  The Colors of Us. ISBN 0805071636
·       O'Keefe, Susan.  Be the Star That You Are: A book for Kids Who Feel Different. ISBN 0870293915