Blurb

A young child describes her qualms about going to school and how hard she finds asking the teacher for help, how she feels shy about making friends, not being funny or a fast runner. But through her love of art, a conversation with her mother and her observations about nature she comes to see that being different might not be a bad thing after all.

I lay down and put my nose in the grass. The grass was dotted with yellow flowers, but blue ones grew there too. I rolled over and looked at the trees and the clouds, and thought about things for a while.

‘Not all clouds are white,’ I said, and Piccolo looked at me.

‘Not all trees are tall. Not all birds are brown. Not all cats are tabby like you, Piccolo. Some are black. Some are orange. Some are calico.’

Piccolo swished his stripy tail. I plucked a flower and showed it to him. ‘This flower isn’t yellow, but it isn’t wrong. It is what it’s supposed to be. No one would want it to be yellow. Everyone would say it’s lovely just the way it is.’

The CBCA judges say...

A beautiful book exploring important themes of disliking school, self-love and being proud to be different. The book is filled with genuine emotion and has a strong central character revealed through convincing inner dialogue. Perfect pace and positioning of page turns make this an excellent read aloud. The illustrations offer delicate and nuanced explorations of character and setting; the colour palette is restrained, and colours are used in a symbolic way. This character and situation will resonate with many young readers and the overall message is inspiring. A thought-provoking book which will generate lots of discussions with children.

Teaching Notes for this book...

The publisher has generously made teaching notes available for this book.

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