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PRESCHOOL
Khan, Naaz

Room for Everyone

40 pp. | Simon | November, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5344-3139-3 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-5344-3140-9 $10.99
(1) PS Illustrated by Mercè López. Young Musa and his sister hop aboard the daladala that will drive them from town to the Zanzibar shore. The vehicle is already crowded; nevertheless, when the driver sees an elderly man walking his bike, he stops. "It's hotter than peppers out there in the sun! / Come in, there's room for everyone!" offers the driver, which becomes the text's lively and welcoming refrain. As more and more people--and goods and livestock and milk pails and open umbrellas and stinky fish--board the daladala, Musa expresses his dismay: "'But, Dada,' said Musa, 'can there really be / enough room for a cycle, two goats, and me?'" His sister reminds him--and without a hint of didacticism--that there's always room for another person in need (yes, even scuba-diving tourists). Khan's rhymes are electric, her wordplay flawless, and her sound effects entertaining to say aloud. López's (Lion of the Sky, rev. 3/19) marvelous illustrations, in acrylic, ink, graphite, and digital media, employ a multitude of patterns and textures, hustling and bustling right along with the constant, colorful activity. A glossary and "Note on Zanzibar" are appended. Pair with Margot Zemach's classic It Could Always Be Worse, another uproariously overcrowded cumulative tale (based on a Yiddish folktale) with an underlying message about generosity and gratitude.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

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