Guide · Being yourself
Picture books about being different
Steve DressingUpdated
The best picture books about being different show a kid, or an animal, whose difference turns out to matter. Start with Frederick or Swimmy, two Leo Lionni classics. For a kid who gets teased, Chrysanthemum or Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon. For a new school, The Day You Begin. All 12 picks are below, each with its age range.
I wrote a picture book about a young mockingbird who doesn't fit in, and it's marked below. Every other book here is by another author. The age range on each card comes from the publisher or a bookseller, so you can check it against your reader. The books are grouped four ways: stories where the odd one out saves the day, stories about being proud of who you are, stories about finding where you fit, and stories about a new kid at school. For a kid who loves birds, see picture books about birds.
Quick picks
- A classic to read aloud: Frederick, ages 3–7
- Gets teased about a name: Chrysanthemum, ages 4–8
- Likes a funny story: A Bad Case of Stripes, ages 4–8
- Can't do what the others can, yet: Giraffes Can't Dance, ages 4–8
- Loves animals: Stellaluna, ages 4–7
- Starting at a new school: The Day You Begin, ages 5–8
When being different saves the day
Three books where the one who doesn't fit in turns out to be the one everybody needs.
E
LIO
Frederick
While the other field mice gather food for winter, Frederick gathers sunlight, colors and words. Late in the winter, when the food runs low and everyone is cold, his words are what warm them up.
A 1968 Caldecott Honor book. Frederick doesn't help with the food, and the other mice notice, so it's a good one to talk about afterward.
E
LIO
Swimmy
Swimmy is the only black fish in a school of red ones. After a tuna eats the rest of his school, he finds a new one hiding in the rocks and teaches them to swim together in the shape of one giant fish. Swimmy takes the place of the eye.
A 1964 Caldecott Honor book. The tuna eats Swimmy's first school early on, which can surprise a young listener.
E
LES
Tacky the Penguin
The other penguins are neat and proper. Tacky wears a Hawaiian shirt, does cannonballs and greets everyone too loudly. When hunters come looking for penguins to catch, Tacky's odd habits are what save the group.
The hunters are played for laughs. It's the first of several Tacky books, if your kid wants more.
My book belongs with these. In Eleanor the Mockingbird, Eleanor can't fly yet, so she spends her time learning the sounds of the animals around her, and the other birds think that's strange. When a big group of crows starts attacking the neighborhood, those sounds are what save it. It's written for 4 to 7.
Steve wrote this one
Eleanor the Mockingbird
Eleanor can't fly yet, so she learns every sound in the neighborhood. The other birds think it's strange, until the crows come.
Picture book · Ages 4–7 · By Steve Dressing
Proud of who you are
Four books about a kid who gets teased or feels wrong, and what happens next.
E
LOV
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Molly Lou is short, clumsy and buck-toothed, with a voice like a frog. Her grandmother tells her to walk proudly, smile big and sing out. At a new school, a bully named Ronald Durkin picks on her, and she turns each thing he teases her about into something she's good at.
Her grandmother's advice runs through the whole book, so it's a good one for a grandparent to read aloud.
E
HEN
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum, a mouse, loves her name until she starts school and her classmates tease her for being named after a flower. Her parents reassure her every night. Then the class meets their music teacher, whose name is a flower too.
An ALA Notable Children's Book. The teasing goes on for several days before it turns around.
E
SHA
A Bad Case of Stripes
Camilla Cream loves lima beans but won't eat them, because her friends don't like them. She worries so much about what everyone thinks that she breaks out in stripes, and the cure turns out to be the lima beans.
Camilla's changes get strange: she turns into a giant pill and sprouts roots and feathers. It's played for laughs.
E
AND
Giraffes Can't Dance
Gerald the giraffe wants to dance, but his knees buckle and his legs are too thin. With help from an unlikely friend, he finds his own way to dance.
It's told in rhyme, so it reads aloud easily.
Finding where you fit
Two animal stories about growing up in the wrong place and finding your own kind.
E
CAN
Stellaluna
A baby fruit bat falls into a bird's nest and is raised by the birds. She learns to eat bugs and sleep at night like they do, until she meets other bats and finds out the way she was born to live is right for her.
An owl attacks at the start and separates Stellaluna from her mother. They find each other again. The back pages have facts about bats.
E
PIN
The Ugly Duckling
Pinkney's version of the Andersen story, painted in watercolor. An awkward duckling is mocked by the other animals and wanders through a hard year before he finds out he's a swan.
A 2000 Caldecott Honor book. The duckling runs into hunters and a harsh winter along the way.
New kid at school
Two books about walking into a room where nobody is quite like you.
E
WOO
The Day You Begin
Angelina stayed home all summer while her classmates traveled. Rigoberto just moved from Venezuela. Another girl's classmates make fun of her lunch. Each feels alone until they start sharing their stories and find what they have in common.
It won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. Kirkus lists it for 4 to 8.
E
CHO
The Name Jar
Unhei has just moved from Korea. When kids laugh at her name, she tells her class she'll pick a new one, and they fill a jar with suggestions. A classmate named Joey learns her real name and what it means, and on choosing day she keeps her own.
Before she left Korea, her grandmother gave her a wooden stamp carved with her name. The age range is from Kirkus.
Giving one as a gift
- Two of these have a grandmother in the story: Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon and The Name Jar.
- For a kid starting at a new school, pair The Day You Begin with Chrysanthemum.
- Shopping for a grandkid? See Book gifts for grandkids, ages 4 to 14.
Questions parents ask
What's a good picture book about being different for a 4 year old?
Frederick and Swimmy are both listed for 3 to 7, and Stellaluna for 4 to 7. Eleanor the Mockingbird is written for 4 to 7.
What should I read with a kid who's being teased?
Chrysanthemum is about being teased for a name, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon about a bully at a new school, and A Bad Case of Stripes about worrying too much about fitting in.
Are there picture books about starting at a new school?
The Day You Begin and The Name Jar are both about kids who feel out of place in a new class. Chrysanthemum takes place in her first days of school.
Where can I find these books?
Each title above links to its publisher or an independent bookseller. Most libraries carry them too. Eleanor the Mockingbird ships from this site.
