Everyone is Welcome

Written by Phuong Truong

Illustrated by Christine Wei

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-343-9

24 pp.

Ages 6-8

September 2023

The rise in hate messaging on social media and around the world, particularly against Asian community members during the pandemic, has been concerning and disheartening. Racism and prejudice against those who are seen as different–aren't we all different and unique?–is reprehensible and sadly growing. Phuong Truong and Christine Wei's picture book Everyone is Welcome speaks specifically to anti-Asian violence and how a child might be impacted by it. 

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

The eight-year-old narrator of Everyone is Welcome loves going to the Asian market with her family though she wishes that she were old enough to go alone to the corner store like her mother did when she was younger. Though it was a different time, when children could play on the street and go to the local store without supervision, her mother recalls being taunted for her Asian heritage with ethnic slurs and offensive gestures. Now the child hears of her grandmother's friend Mrs. Lee being pushed into the street and her brother tells her that some kids don't feel safe walking to school without support because of being targeted for being Asian. 

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

And then the child learns that a classmate is no longer allowed to play with her.

His dad told him that everything bad that's happened in the world is my fault. Mine and everyone who looks like me.

While there are no quick solutions, understanding and compassion from her mother and the opportunity to take a small step in helping go a long way.

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

All racism is abhorrent. Why are there those who target communities who may be different in their appearance, language, food and more and deem them less? It is hate, and it speaks more to ignorance than anything else. I'm sad to think that Toronto writer Phuong Truong and Vancouver illustrator Christine Wei and their families may have experienced such cruelties and felt unsafe. The message of Everyone is Welcome may be a simple one that we all belong. Period. It doesn't matter what we look like or where we come from or what languages we speak. The homes we make and the multiple communities to which we belong are ours and no less for being different than another. I know that much hatred percolates from fears and, for children, from familial directives but those offer no excuses. Christine Wei's dedication reminds us that there is still much work to do.

To that day we can all rewrite our fears of differences and celebrate them. – C.W.

While the premise of Everyone is Welcome–increasing violence against Asian communities–is a dark and sobering one, Phuong Truong and Christine Wei bring out the vibrancy of the child's communities at home, neighbourhood and school in their words and art. With her words, Phuong Truong shows us that there will always be compassion that will override the nastiness, and, with her art, Christine Wei brings us to the vivacity of that goodness of people.

For lessons in empathy, especially when needed to combat anti-Asian hate, Everyone is Welcome brings us to a place of both reality and promise. Hate has always been around, often just changing targets, but awareness and grace are universal, and they have and will overcome the worst when everyone is made to feel welcome.