Julianna Swaney

It wants to be a story about celebrating our differences, our individuality, but I can't get past all the slant rhymes and how the illustrator repeatedly demonstrates an absolute ignorance of how hot-air balloons work.

While this book did remind me of "Oh the Places You'll Go" (AKA perfect for a graduating gift, new baby, etc.), it was better than I expected. Once again, I was worried because, you know, that whole celebrity written thing.

But the illustrations are lovely and the book made me smile.

This book is perfect for younger kids, and it shares a wonderful message about uniqueness. I love how the author shares this message by showing how the children work together using their strengths to make hot air balloons. Some of the children prefer to work by themselves and others like to talk and share their ideas. This is a great way to introduce the idea of how some people are more extroverted and others are more introverted. I thought this was a clever and colorful way to show that!

This book is fine. The illustrations are soft and dreamlike and while the story does rhyme and does have a cadence, that cadence is soft in areas. The story’s about how everyone’s different and that is perfectly OK because everyone is who they were made to be. I like the message in this book and overall it works well. But to me it’s only so so.