When Charley Met Emma

When Charley Met Emma | Realistic Fiction | Amy Webb | Foreword INDIES Award Bronze Medal | ages 3-7 |

Charley is a great boy who likes to do things his other friends do and some things that only he likes to do like drawing. He begins to feel different but his mom tells him different isn’t bad. Later he meets a girl at the park named Emma, who seems different. She has no hands and is on a wheelchair. Charley asks what does she look weird which makes Emma feel sad. His mother explains to him again about being different. Different isn’t weird, bad, sad or strange. Charley apologizes for making Emma feel bad, and they learn they have a lot in common, like playing tag, in the playground, and even drawing! Different is great!

I really enjoyed this book and it was just so sweet. I’d have this book in my class so students know how to behave when meeting someone who is different from the inside or outside. This quick story shows the message that different is great, and we can actually relate with other people despite our differences. I think the appropriate grade level would is preschool to first grade. The language and illustrations appeal to this age group and they can enjoy this book while learning something valuable. It’s a great book to read to the class when learning about children’s with different needs and even at the beginning of the school. Some prompts to discuss with the class is “what makes you different?” Or for learning about charts, graphs, and diagrams, you can have the students pair up and create a Venn diagram showing their differences and similarities.