Celebrating Difference: A Review of Made by Raffi

1570931Raffi is different from the other children in his class. He doesn’t like noise or playing sports. At recess, he hangs around the teachers, “just for a little peace and quiet.” One day he sees a teacher knitting a scarf for her sister, and he asks if he can try. After a few false starts – when he learns that if you make a mistake knitting, you can just unravel the yarn and start over – he talks his parents into taking him to the wool shop and starts to knit his father a scarf. At first his classmates tease him, but when the crafty hero makes a cape for the prince in the class play, everyone else wants him to make a costume too.

Margaret Chamberlain’s simple but expressive illustrations complement this sweet story about celebrating differences. Author Craig Pomeranz doesn’t diagnose Raffi. The kids initially call him “strange,” “weird,” and “girly,” but as his mom points out, “I think you are very…Raffi.” His “special interests” are ones to be celebrated, and even the most skeptical classmates come to recognize Raffi’s essential coolness.

Made by Raffi comes from British publisher Frances Lincoln, known for its standout titles that focus on diversity and human rights. This gentle, reassuring picture book continues in this vein and will appeal to readers who don’t always fit in – which at some point can be any child.

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