Book Review of Sweet People Are Everywhere
The Children’s Book Review
Sweet People Are Everywhere
Written by Alice Walker
Illustrated by Quim Torres
Ages 4-8 | 48 Pages
Publisher: Tra Publishing | ISBN-13: 978-1734761818
What to expect: Poetry, Kindness, Globalism
Activist, poet, and author Alice Walker brings us a stellar children’s book full of hope and light. With her poem SWEET PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE, this magical picture book takes young readers on a delightful ride across the globe.
Walker leads children on a globe-trotting adventure hand-in-hand with Quim Torres’ heart-warming illustrations. Each of Torres’ pictures highlights how different and very similar people in each place are. The first-page layout features Turkey, Afghanistan, the United States, and Canada, and each of those people shown are mothers with their children. They may wear different clothes, but they all care for and love their children. The circumstances, clothing, customs, and languages may differ, but the love is the same and very real!
The poem then zips to more places, juxtaposing seemingly different countries and their inhabitants and cleverly showing how much they are alike. Everyone plays games, though with various rules. Everyone has people who go to work, though the workplaces can be different. People everywhere ride bikes and dance under trees and hold hands. People everywhere love each other.
Walker’s poem wisely reminds us, “We are lost/ If we can no longer experience/ how sweet human beings can be.” And with Torres’ colorful, inclusive illustrations, children can see how we really are more alike than different. And what a beautiful way to show that there are people, children, and adults, living parallel lives all around the world – and this can help us empathize and identify with those people. In times of crisis and war especially, it’s so essential for children to know there are good people everywhere.
Children tend to have such hyper-focused views of the world. This book helps expand their horizons while reminding them that no matter where they go, they can share the goodness of humanity. Adults will find this a gentle reminder, too.
A beautiful book especially suited for classroom or library readings, SWEET PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE is a comforting, enlightening choice for children.
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About the Author
Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple.
About the Illustrator
Quim Torres is an award-winning illustrator and author based in Barcelona. He has illustrated several children’s books, including the recent Tra Publishing titles Sweet People Are Everywhere by Alice Walker and The Rare, Tiny Flower by Kitty O’Meara.
Sweet People Are Everywhere by Alice Walker was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like Sweet People Are Everywhere by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with kindness, poetry, and globalism.