My Friend Isabelle

My Friend Isabelle is a wonderful little book that teaches about difference and acceptance with simplicity and grace. Isabelle and Charlie are friends. They are the same age, but like most friends, they are different: Charlie is tall and knows "a lot of words," and Isabelle is short and sometimes her words are, "hard to understand." The sweet simplicity of their relationship is a reminder to everyone that "differences are what make the world so great." Young readers will love the bold illustrations and simple text, and parents will appreciate the message and the sensitivity with which it is delivered. At the end of the story readers meet the real Isabelle, and author Eliza Woloson briefly notes how Down syndrome makes her daughter and other children special. --Daphne Durham