Everybody!

Written and illustrated by Elise Gravel

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-9167-8

44 pp.

Ages 3-8

October 2021

 

Want a cheeky way to share with kids how human they are and just like everybody else? Then let a plethora of very different–multi-coloured, multi-shaped, multi-sized–creatures help them see how everybody is the same in Elise Gravel's newest picture book Everybody!

From Everybody! by Elise Gravel

With her first double-spread, Elise Gravel makes sure that kids know that "Everybody is unique and different" as an opener to how we are still very similar in so many ways. From feeling joy and sadness and experiencing fears, to making mistakes and learning, we are all the same.

From Everybody! by Elise Gravel

It's important to reassure kids that everybody feels what they might feel, even if they think that they alone are experiencing that emotion. Everybody wants to fit in and be liked and loved and not be embarrassed. They need to know that everybody needs help sometime and can offer help too.

From Everybody! by Elise Gravel

Everybody just wants to be accepted and respected, and Elise Gravel's final message sums it up best.

We are each unique,

but we have so much 

in common.

We are all 

HUMAN.

Who better to learn about being human than from a variety of colourful and amorphous beings who look so different but are just like everybody else in what they feel and do and experience? Elise Gravel's message about recognizing that we, as humans, have many commonalities but that it's still okay to be different is as inclusive as it can get. Everybody! emphasizes the richness of diversity and the comfort of likeness, reassuring those who are or want to be different that they are deserving of respect and acceptance as much those who are or find relief and even happiness in being part of a big "everybody." And with her quirky menagerie of characters, Elise Gravel makes sure that everybody can be seen and included even if they're not orange or turquoise or lacking in a nose.

For some fun printables and colouring pages related to her books, Elise Gravel offers sheets on a variety of themes like "Everyone can like" and "It's OK to be different" on her website and I encourage everybody to partake in these. While being unique is pretty cool, being part of something greater can feel pretty good too and, thanks to Elise Gravel, young readers will now know that they are just like everybody and keeping very good company.