WE BELONG

Jauntily rhyming text coupled with colorful, detailed digital illustrations outline the numerous types of people that inhabit the world.

Quiet and loud people “both deserve our applause.” It doesn't really matter if someone is tall or short because “we're only each as high / as a small grain of sand / next to mountains or sky.” Also noted and affirmed are differing personalities, body types, interests, persuasions, and emotions. A nature analogy is creatively used to explore skin color: “We all wear our skin just like trees wear their bark, in infinite shades between light and dark.” Some people may be the color of "Oak," "Mahogany," or "Chestnut," and so on. Regarding gender diversity, the text proclaims: “There are boys. There are girls. / And even more choices. / Let’s build a world where there is room for all voices.” The overarching message that all are equal and belong on this beautiful planet Earth is enhanced by the final observation that when we learn from each other, we grow. Aguilera’s vibrant colored pencil and digital media illustrations depict a variety of racially diverse children making music, flying kites, playing together, and more in various parts of their city, the residents of which include women and girls wearing hijabs, a Jewish man sporting a yarmulke, people using wheelchairs, people with disabilities, and a girl with cancer (not discussed in the text but cued in the artwork).

An upbeat, empowering celebration of human diversity.