#RWYK Great Read #Review – “Friends of a Different Kind” written by Nayera Salam
Hey RWYK Family!
Friendship has always been an important theme in children’s literature and today at the Reading with Your Kids podcast, we’re privileged to review a children’s book on friendship that celebrates diversity and inclusion. That book is Friends of a Different Kind written by our RWYK Certified Great Read author Nayera Salam.
Reading books about making friends for kids, listening to your child’s fears and questions, and a lot of encouragement will help kids get ready to make a new friend during the first few weeks of school. We hope this latest addition to our Reading With Your Kids Certified Great Read will be a helpful tool for parents and caregivers and will inspire kids to show courage and embrace new friends in life!
We hope you and your family enjoy reading “Friends of a Different Kind” as much as we did!
Let’s have a look at the Book Blurb
Friends of a Different Kind (Kids Books by Nayera)
Chocolate Chum is the luckiest dog in the neighborhood! He not only has many doggy friends but he has many pals of a different kind. Frogs, gnomes, cats and more. Meet them all in this story that teaches kids about inclusivity and diversity. From beginning to end, children and adults will be intrigued by the book’s message, the enchanting creatures, and the vivid imagery. Plus fun activities! Visit www.kidsbooksbynayera.com. Read-aloud version available.
Click the links below to grab your copy today!
Meet the author
Nayera Salam has a Master’s degree in Education from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, and more than thirty years teaching experience.
She is now retired and lives in Atlanta with her husband. She has two children and is the proud grandmother of two granddaughters.
“I have been writing stories in my mind for a long time…It seems like the characters ‘create’ themselves. I just write down what I get from somewhere. This applies to all my stories.
“I don’t choose a topic, or select characters, they choose me!” Nayera Salam.
Finally, Where Can We Find Nayera Salam Online?
Website: www.kidsbooksbynayera.com
Our Review
“A perfect gift for young animal lovers and a lovely subject to help kids get reading”
We absolutely love this book!
Friends of a Different Kind by Nayera Salam is a heartwarming story of unusual animal friendships. The main character is a cute diversity loving Cocker Spaniel, Chocolate Chum. Chocolate loves his dog friends but he is proud to have friends of all different kinds of animals. The friendships shown in the book include Frogs, gnomes, cats, bats and more.
The animal friendships featured in this book are completely unexpected, but so much fun to read about. The illustrations, done by Jenny Reynish, will really grab readers, especially animal lovers and kids. My favorite images include owl named Howy McWise, Catalina, the cat, and frogs. This beautiful picture book talks about what’s common between all these animals i.e love and kindness, and where they differ, but these differences are celebrated, instead of being treated as a barrier to their friendship. The main lesson of the book seems to be one of tolerance. Kids will also learn that friendship is far more powerful than difference.
From the very beginning, this book tugged at my heartstrings. We loved the inclusion of a short declaration of a Chocolate Chum on each page about how lucky he is to have friends of a Different Kind, such a nice touch to the already sweet book. Teaching children to recognize and celebrate diversity and difference is essential to healthy social and emotional development. It helps children not only to be more accepting of others but also to accept themselves and their own strengths and weaknesses. Friends of a Different kind explores the limitless means of friendship which is such an important thing to teach kids at a young age. Not only are the pictures delightful, but there is a beautiful message being conveyed: friends come in all shapes, sizes, and species! There are some fun activities at the end of the book which makes it a perfect family read!
With charming watercolor illustrations of the animals, this is a great story for kids who face difficulty being friends with someone who is different than them and need encouragement to find their inner courage to make a friend.
Final Verdict
This is a delightful book that we will absolutely love reading day in and day out, and we don’t think we will ever get tired of looking at those wonderful illustrations. They truly make this book a 5 star read. This is a simple and easy-to-understand book for young readers which introduces so many unique animal friends names to kids and encourages them not to be afraid of being friends with those who are different than you.
We would recommend this book to all teachers for their library center and to children who love animals and connect with animal stories. The book can also be used as a discussion starter in a classroom or home setting.
Congratulations to Nayera Salam for winning the RWYK Certified Great Read Status
A big thank you to author Nayera for providing us a free copy of this book through Reading with your Kids certified program. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely our own.
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HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY 😆
