Everybody's Welcome by Patricia Hegarty, Greg Abbott
Published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers on October 23rd 2018
ISBN: 1524771651
Pages: 32
Goodreads

“Everybody’s Welcome” is a picture book written by Patricia Hegarty and illustrated by Greg Abbott. The book starts with a mouse who wants to build their own house. Frog arrives in tears because his pond has dried up and now he has no home to go to. Mouse invites Frog to build the house together because everyone is welcome here. The book continues with many other animals that are now without homes and Mouse invites all of them to build together. Each animal brings its own strengths to building the home.

The illustrations are beautiful and give the book a classic feel. The font size is a little small, but definitely readable. The theme that “everyone is welcome” and “everyone has value” is clearly displayed through the illustrations and text. The only downside to the book was that there are different size pages throughout (almost like flaps), which occasionally made it a bit more difficult to turn to the correct page, but this is a minor issue. Aimed at children aged 3 to 7, “Everybody’s Welcome,” is a beautiful and friendly book. I would not call it a must-buy, but would still recommend it for purchase for families who are moving or for teachers to read in a classroom setting.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook.