This book is actually a collection of 5 short stories about twins named Ling and Ting. The first story in this collection talks about how on the outside the twins seem to the be the same, but their personality is what makes them different. At the end, one of the twins haircuts ended up getting botched and it was easier to tell the difference between the twins on the outside. I think this would be great for upper elementary and even new middle schoolers because there are many stories to read in one book. ( )

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the "most distinguished American book for beginning readers." It didn't win, but the better choice for the award, in my opinion, would have been one of the Honor Books, written and illustrated by Grace Lin, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! Ling and Ting are identical twins who, while wearing (adorable!) matching dresses, display their individuality in other ways. This 44-page book has six very short, humorous, interrelated chapters. The twins' heritage is highlighted in the chapters about chopsticks and making Chinese dumplings. Lin's bold-colored paintings are eye-popping. Lin went to a lot of effort to make the vocabulary and sentence structure appropriate for beginning readers, who should be able to read this book on their own. There's even a 14-page educator's guide and paper dolls available!

© Amanda Pape - 2011 ( )

This is a great book to show children on how they can be independent on their own. For example, in the story, Ting and Ling making dumplings by themselves and they didn't need the presence of an older person with them to do it. Also, it touch base on how they were twins and they looked the same but were very different. It gives the message that looks can be deceiving and people can be very different. ( )

I thought the book "Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same!" from the Ling and Ting series by Grace Lin is a great book for its intent to provide a voice for those who cannot speak. The characters are two young, Chinese twins who are identical in appearances but very different in every other aspect of their lives; everywhere they go, people tell them “You two are exactly the same!”, something that is known to be a stereotype of Chinese/Japanese/Korean men and women. In an interview, Lin has described how dangerous this stigma can be on young children and how important it was for her to write a series that proved the stereotype untrue in a lighthearted, child friendly way. The story starts with Ling and Ting getting their hair cut, and based on the illustrations the two girls look identical in every way but when they sit down in the chairs, Ting sneezes as the barber goes to trim her bangs, cutting a large chunk of the hair off. The next illustration shows that the two are now a little less identical, and they like it this way. Over the course of the short chapters, the reader sees Ling and Ting in various scenarios; while eating dinner, Ling has a hard time using chopsticks to eat while Ting has no trouble at all. Later, while making dumplings, Ling makes hers one way, while Ting prefers to make hers using a different method. The story continues in this way, showing all the silly differences that the twins share and these differences are essential to the message of the story. The book pushes readers to broaden their perspectives and break the stigma that the author is all too familiar with—just because people of a certain race look alike, it does not mean that they are the same person. Everyone is different in their preferences, abilities, and personalities and Lin chose to provide her voice to young children who may struggle with this cliché in their own lives. She is bringing awareness to something she experienced in her own childhood and she seized an opportunity to use her gift for writing and illustrating children’s books to help prevent future generations from sharing her pain. The big idea of the book is meant to teach children of all races that you are an individual and there is no one in the world who is exactly like you—even if you happen to be born with someone who matches you in appearances; we are all unique and must be recognized as such. ( )

Ling and Ting are twin sisters that are not the same. First, they get different haircuts to show that they are not exactly the same. The sisters show the world that even though they look similar, they are very different. I think we could use this book to show readers that they can write silly stories just like Ling and Ting by taking things that happen in their real life and writing them in a story. ( )