Nothing in Common
I fell in love with this book instantly for it is not just a picture book about two young people who have nothing in common but empathy. It is a book for everyone who thought they had no one and nothing in common with anyone. It is a book about noticing things and people around you. It is a book about getting involved and evolving.
I am not sure when the best time to use this book might be, which to me means use it at any time. To be technical, it would be a wonderful small moment narrative, a fantasy, fodder for a literary essay and perhaps even a companion picture book for a novel perhaps like Loser or any other novel where the central character(s) feels alone.
Truthfully, I want to show you every single delicious illustration and thoughtfully crafted text. The vocabulary rings through the page and straight into your heart. The illustrations are dreamy like an idea that just came to you when you wake up. This is a book to cherish, to share, to buy as a gift for teachers and loved ones.
Kate Hoefler says in her author bio, She loves feeling connected to people (and to dogs), and also loves how being noticers in books helps us to be noticers in the world. Isn’t that just the message we need in this disconnected time.
As the book continues along, we begin to see if they don’t, how very much these two really have in common. When we notice, we act. Maybe this is a book to talk about how little we did have in common at the beginning of the school year and now with so many shared experiences we find we have so much … in common.
