PPBF: Lefty

Today I'm thinking about pizza.

Not just any old pizza, but the stuffed deep dish that my brother requested I make while I was in Wisconsin at our childhood home. His house now, but my childhood kitchen. It took me awhile to figure out where everything was, and I did pretty well until it was time to use a scissors. His wife was at home, so I was able to ask her where she keeps them; that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the scissors didn't work very well. Like I couldn't get it to cut anything. As I switched to the other pair of scissors, I mentioned to my sister-in-law that the red-handled one doesn't work. She chuckled and said, "That's my left-handed pair." Deep sigh.

Enter today's PPBF.

Title: Lefty

Author: Mo Willems

Illustrator: Dan Santat

Publisher: Union Square Kids

Birth date: December 3, 2024

Suitable for: grades K-2

Themes: acceptance, differences, humor

Brief synopsis: Learn more about the historical hiccups behind life as a lefty and see if in present times, we do better at getting it right.

Opening page:

"Hi Righty!"

Did you know ...

there was a time when people

could get into trouble ...

really, really BIG trouble ... "

"For what, Lefty?"

Resources: Watch the silly book trailer {here}.

Find resources to enrich the book {here}.

Read a Kirkus review {here}.

Jump on a book tour {here}.

Why I like this book: First of all, I was born left-handed. But back in 1961 (yes, I am that age!), at least in rural Wisconsin, my parents didn't think it was right to lead with my left. So they changed me. That's right; they worked with intention to get me to be right ... handed, that is. They'd hold my left hand, they'd take the pencil from my left and put it in my right hand, and they'd have me sit on my left hand, all in an attempt to get me to do life right ... handed, that is.

So when my daughter came along, people would ask how she ended up a lefty. Weird how that works.

Fun fact: My dad and my brother are both ambidextrous. 😉

Anyway, we didn't try to change Kaitlyn. In fact, we thought it gave her an edge, especially as a softball pitcher. Her specialty pitches were really hard to hit.

And I thought it was really slick that how

she owned that Southpaw smudge in the classroom.

What I didn't know before reading this creative, hand-puppet stage production is that left-handedness was often a means for being "fired or arrested or teased or thrown out of your village!" Yikes! So glad that that craziness was left in the past.

There's not really much depth to the text of this newcomer;

in fact, many of pages are carried by the pictures,

but I like the extension possibilities that I see.

Handedness is only one of the ways that we are different.

What are some other ways? Shoe size? Food preferences?

Height? Weight? Hair color? Eye color? Skin tone?

The type of family we come from? Urban or rural homes?

Religious beliefs? Family systems? Ethnicity?

Why might we judge others for these differences?

How might our world be better with a mantra like:

Not right, not wrong, just different.

Not good, not bad, just different.