A Kid is a Kid is a Kid

Written by Sara O'Leary

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-250-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

August 2021

 

Every child may be different but every child is also the same, especially when they're asked insensitive or withering questions about their differences. They just want to be, to feel safe and cared for and to enjoy life. When they are questioned about their family or their gender, their preferences or abilities, or have their "imperfections" pointed out, they do not feel good. Then they are all the same, as are we all.

From A Kid is a Kid is a Kid by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

From the onset, A Kid is a Kid is a Kid reminds us that being a kid is not easy. Starting with a child who's taunted with a question about whether they're a boy or a girl, multiple kids step up to assert what tactless questions have been asked of them. From why one child always has her nose in a book, or why another is small, to where they come from, why they wear the same shirt, or why they don't have any friends. (One boy steps up to negate that question by declaring himself their friend.) There's a child with a prosthetic leg and one with a baby sister in an incubator and twins who always get asked about being twins. (Tiresome, I'm sure.)

From A Kid is a Kid is a Kid by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

But rather than focusing on the differences that the inquisitors see, kids want to be asked about their strengths, what they love and that of which they're proud. And there's one important question that every child likes to be asked.

From A Kid is a Kid is a Kid by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

As Sara O'Leary and Qin Leng reminded us in their earlier book, A Family is a Family is a Family (Groundwood, 2016), there is no one way to be a family, and the same goes for being a kid. Kids come in different shapes, sizes, colours and abilities. Their essences and their histories make them unique. But getting to know kids is not focusing on their vulnerabilities. That's teasing and bullying and says more about the one asking the question than the one answering. Sara O'Leary understands that all people, kids and adults, may say or ask something rude but her emphasis in A Kid is a Kid is a Kid is that the diversity of individual kids is what makes a school, a playground, or a community great. Qin Leng's illustrations of ink and watercolour with pastel give us that diversity while reminding us that children are young and small and must be overwhelmed by being so in a big world. But, what's important is being yourself among others and not being ashamed of what you are. By first focusing on those differences before culminating their story with a universally welcome activity for kids, Sara O'Leary and Qin Leng bring young readers into their story and remind them that being a kid can mean different things and they're all just fine.