PPBF: Something Else

Today's PPBF, one of my all-time favorite books to read aloud, is

 Something Else.

Title: Something Else

Author: Kathryn Cave

Illustrator: Chris Riddell

Publisher: Mondo Pub

Date: April 5, 1998

Suitable for: ages 6 and up

Fiction

Themes: Celebrating differences, empathy, acceptance

Brief Synopsis: Try as he might, this little blue creature named Something Else just doesn't quite fit in. But when an orange Something shows up on his doorstep, will Something Else recognize him as an opportunity for companionship knocking?

Opening page:  On a windy hill alone with nothing to be friends with lived Something Else.

Resources:

A previous post at the Corner called It's Golden {here}.

Find some activities from Schools Linking Network {here}.

Engage with a Same and Different Lesson {here}.

Try these activities from Stonewall {here}.

In peace class, we used a ball of yarn to set up the story with an object lesson about differences. We brought a volunteer up and listed all of the ways she was different from us. With every difference, we wrapped her up with another round of the string. When we'd finished, she was stuck! I asked what her life would be like if each of these differences was something she worried about. They didn't know how she'd eat, open a door, write, or play. We all agreed that focusing on differences as bad or something to worry or stress about definitely ties people up ... but embracing and, yes, celebrating differences sets us free.

We also used this problem poster ... it fit right in with Patch, my pirate puppet, who wants to fit in but is quite different from us.

It's interesting to use this poster across four grade levels ... K students say that the problem is that the one zebra is too small, a first grader noticed that there wasn't any water for them, and by second and third they're able to notice that his stripes don't go the same way. Such a great picture for a "not good, not bad, just different" discussion.

Then a read-aloud of Something Else and our lesson on not only accepting but celebrating differences is complete!

Why I like this book:  

Not only is it a fun read-aloud with rich food for thought about differences, but it's got amazing illustrations, like this one:

I use this page to ask my students to put themselves in Something Else's shoes. How is he feeling? How can they tell? What would they need if they were to switch places? When they answer "a friend," sure enough, Something Else gets his chance at a true friendship on the very next page. But he doesn't see it like that right away.

Check out this book to see how your students react when Something Else tells Something that he is most definitely NOT his "sort of something else."

Note: In preK peace class, we played a fun rendition of London Bridge Is Falling Down using these lyrics that I wrote:

Everyone is dif-fer-ent, dif-fer-ent, dif-fer-ent.
Everyone is dif-fer-ent; we respect that.

And they went home with a unifying song in their heart!