An Upworthy.com and Today Show parenting expert presents a down-to-earth picture book filled with colorful photographs and simple text that celebrates friendship, diversity and acceptance. - (Baker & Taylor)

Photographs and simple text celebrate friendship, diversity, and acceptance. - (Baker & Taylor)

What’s the difference if she has light skin and yours is a little darker?

All that matters is the artwork you create together is as colorful as possible . . .

As he did in I Wonder, Upworthy.com and Today Show parenting expert parenting guru Doyin Richards tackles a timely and universal subject—diversity and acceptance—and distills it for the youngest readers. Because what matters most is not our differences, but what we do together as friends, as families, as colleagues, as citizens. Perfect for sharing as a family or in the classroom, What's the Difference? should find a place in homes and in hearts.

A down-to-earth picture book that celebrates diversity and acceptance, from an Upworthy.com and Today Show parenting expert, illustrated with photos. - (McMillan Palgrave)

Doyin Richards is one of the most respected and in-demand voices on modern fatherhood today. He's been interviewed by the Today Show (and is a charter member of the Today Show's Parenting Team), NPR, USA Today, the New York Times, and CNN, among others. He's the founder of Daddy Doin' Work, author of the picture book I Wonder: Celebrating Daddies Doin' Work (Feiwel and Friends, 2016), and Daddy Doin' Work: Empowering Mothers to Evolve Fatherhood. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two daughters. - (McMillan Palgrave)

Booklist Reviews

In a conspicuous departure from the melting-pot multicultural books of the recent past, Richards' photo-rich picture book highlights the differences between people and affirms them as assets to be valued, not ignored. Created with pre- or emergent readers in mind, the book relies on visuals to communicate happiness and friendship among children who share interests although they are physically different from one another. Readers see photographs of curly-headed and straight-haired girls laughing together in their shared love of funky hats, and dark- and light-skinned buddies sipping sodas together. The text is celebratory and straightforward, calling out differences matter-of-factly and urging readers to see them, too. Richards encourages youngsters to not be color-blind and to listen to the stories that differences tell. The book ends with a plea to children to set an example for adults by forging friendships because of, not despite, differences—"create an unbreakable bond as you do the stuff you love"— thereby precluding the rifts borne later of ignorance and fear. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

"What's the difference if your neighbor has blue eyes and yours are brown? All that matters is when your eyes see ice cream, you eat it together." Filled with likewise laid-back ruminations and color photos of children of diverse backgrounds enjoying the same activity, this book presents a light-handed positive message focusing on the strength of social bonding to counteract superficial differences. Copyright 2018 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-Gr 1—The author of I Wonder: Celebrating Daddies Doin' Work has written another powerful book for children celebrating differences. Expressive photos, collected from the followers of the author's Instagram account, demonstrate how youngsters engage in all types of activities. The images are cropped into fun shapes, fitting into colorful backgrounds. Each page starts with the question "What's the difference" and continues with "all that matters is…" Girls and boys of a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds demonstrate the concept that "understanding our differences will create an unbreakable bond." In Richards's words: "take a look at yourself. Your friends may not look like you, and that's a good thing. Because when it comes to love, keep showing that there really is no difference." VERDICT A timely addition to nonfiction collections and a perfect read-aloud for young students.—Annette Herbert, F. E. Smith Elementary School, Cortland, NY