Welcome, come in! You are invited to travel to homes around the world in this beautifully illustrated picture book about hospitality and acceptance, which features the word "welcome" from more than fourteen languages. Fans of Here We Are and The Wonderful Things You Will Be will enjoy this timeless story about family, friendship, empathy, and welcoming others.
Welcome, friend. Welcome.
There are almost as many ways of making someone feel welcome as there are people on our planet. To welcome another is to give that person and yourself a chance at a new connection, a new friendship, and maybe even new eyes through which to view the world.
Journey around the globe as A Hundred Thousand Welcomes introduces the word for “welcome” in fourteen languages to illuminate a universal message of hope and acceptance. Mary Lee Donovan’s spare text is brought to life by Lian Cho’s boisterous, richly detailed illustrations.
Includes a pronunciation guide, a note from the artist, a note from the author, and information about the languages featured in the book.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-0062877727 Ages 4-8
Keywords: manners, communication, languages, hospitality, values, diversity, diverse books, multicultural, acceptance, accepting others, Social Studies Curriculum, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old, social skills, social situations, Character Building Curriculum
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"There are almost as many ways of making someone feel welcome as there are people on the planet. "
However, regardless of the race, religion, culture or creed there are two things that particularly permeate our need to connect with others, to seek acceptance if not friendship, and offer help and protection for those in need and that is the verbal language of welcome and the sharing of food.
In this book, written as a poem to the world as a "protest against intolerance, injustice and inhumanity" both are explored and explained through the text and illustrations. Beginning as a way to discover how to say 'welcome; in as many languages as possible, it has evolved into an exploration of the various customs that usually accompany the word when it is spoken. Sitting alongside the text, the illustrator illuminates this with pictures of everyday families sharing food as they welcome strangers to their homes, culminating in a huge four-page spread that has everyone at the same table. There is even a pronunciation guide to help you get your tongue around the unfamiliar words.
Even though there are many languages throughout the world, there is a limit to the number that can be included and so the author has selected 13 of those most commonly spoken - English, Indonesian, Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Bengali, German, Hindi, Urdu, Lakota Sioux, Bashkir and Gaelic - immediately offering an opportunity for your students to add their own version both of the words and the customs, providing an authentic activity to celebrate both diversity and inclusion. Astute teachers would include a focus on the language of our First Nations peoples and a closer examination of the meaning, purpose and origins of the traditional Welcome to Country.
Just as the author discovered that there is so much more to 'welcome" beyond the spoken word, so, too, there can be so much more to sharing this book to explore and share meaningful, purposeful learning.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats https://500hats.edublogs.org/
The Bottom Shelf https://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/
Storybook Cushions https:// bit.ly/storybook_cushions
