We Belong written by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aguilera; Carolrhoda, 2022.

Here’s a positive, affirming, lyrical picture book that celebrates diversity and acceptance within communities.  It begins with a page featuring an unoccupied park bench and the text, “Welcome! You’re here.” As the book progresses from page turn to page turn, more and more children of all shapes, sizes, colors, cultures, identities, and abilities interact with one another. Young readers and listeners are treated to joyful examples of inclusion and the power of friendship. It’s my kind of book, and I’m happy to share it with you.

Why this Book? Why will it matter to kids?

Kids are grappling with so much these days. They are bombarded with heart wrenching examples of how society is struggling to find its way. Books that bring light, embracing acceptance, equity, and inclusion while being accessible and upbeat, are powerful learning tools supporting social-emotional learning. We Belong celebrates humanity and our ability to make our small corner of the universe bigger and better and less intimidating. It opens hearts and minds and spurs discussion and positive action.

Levels and Layers of Learning

Grade level: Pre-K—3

Social-Emotional Learning Themes

Acceptance, appreciation, compassion, concern, connection, creativity, dedication, diligence, effort, empathy, encouragement, empowerment, friendship, generosity of spirit, gratitude, helpfulness, hope,  inspiration, kindness, loyalty, perseverance, persistence, perspective, resilience, resourcefulness, respect, responsible decision-making, relationship building , self-assurance, self-awareness, self-management, self-reliance, social awareness, tenacity, understanding

Content Area Connections: Community, Social-Emotional Learning, English Language Arts

Using This Book in the Classroom

Hit the Ground Running
Ready Resources for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Parents

YouTube video intro to the book 

We Belong downloadable poster

Write Away! Ideas to prompt writing

Laura has created We Belong poem templates for use with individuals and groups.

We Belong celebrates diversity. Laura encourages children to, “Explore and celebrate who you are and who others are too! Short or tall. Black or white. Quiet or loud. There’s beauty in each, and most of us are not all of one quality or another, anyway!” Ask children to write about themselves, describing both physical and personal attributes. Then have them draw a picture to accompany their description. Display on a bulletin board, above lockers, or across one of the walls in the classroom.

The title of this book is We Belong. What does belonging mean to you? Where do you belong? How does belonging make you feel?

How can we help others feel as if they belong? Give examples. Be specific.

How has someone made you feel as if you belong?

Thoughtful reflections can be found throughout the book. Choose one and explain what it means to you. For example,

Sometimes we’d like to make sadness extinct,/ but teardrops and smiles are joined—they are linked.

We all wear our skin just like trees wear their bark,/in infinite shades between light and dark.  When we learn from each other,/we expand what we know./ Our hearts crack open,/like seeds,/and they grow.

Carolrhoda Books ®, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group; iIllustration © Carlos Vélez Aguilera

Poetry Break Related poetry to recite before or following the reading of this book

Poetry breaks fit perfectly into brief moments in the day—from opening or closing the day to lining up for lunch; from zipping up backpacks and jackets to transitioning from one subject to the next. Reading a poem typically takes less than a minute, yet it can introduce or reinforce a concept, provide clarity, celebrate language, exemplify rhythm, enhance vocabulary, expand understanding, increase attention span, initiate reflection, spark imagination, or simply summon a giggle. With an emphasis on rhythm, rhyme, and letter sounds, poetry bolsters reading and writing skills. As if that isn’t enough, poetry also soothes and strengthens the spirit.

“Poets create striking images that plant themselves in a reader’s brain. They combine words in surprising, unexpected ways. Good poetry makes readers’ minds blossom!” –Laura Purdie Salas, Catch Your Breath: Writing Poignant Poetry

Below are selected children’s poetry books by Laura:

• Book Speak! Poems About Books illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
• Catch Your Breath: Writing Poignant Poetry
• In The Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake Household illustrated by Angela Matteson
• Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons illustrated by Mercè López
• Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations illustrated by Micha Archer
• Water Can Be… illustrated by Violeta Dabija

For a complete listing of Laura’s books, visit her extensive website.

And Then There’s This…
Enrichment activities, related books, online resources, craft projects, and ideas for further study

Create a We Belong mural as a class project. Decorate and hang above the door to the classroom. 

Related Books of Interest:

• Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua
• Be A Friend by Salina Yoon 
• Danbi Leads the School Parade by Anna Kim
• Extra Ezra Makes An Extra-Special Friend by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
• Hello! A Welcoming Story by Gina K. Lewis, illustrated by María José Campos
• I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët 
• Our Playground Rules! by Kallie George, illustrated by Jay Fleck 
• Say Hello by Jack Foreman, illustrated by Michael Foreman 
• Say Hello! by Kinda Davick
• Most People by Michael Leannah, illustrated by Jennifer E. Morris
• My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska 
• Our World Is A Family by Miry Whitehill and Jennifer Jackson, illustrated by Nomar Perez

  Carolrhoda Books ®, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group; iIllustration © Carlos Vélez Aguilera

Meet the Author

Laura Purdie Salas

Former teacher Laura Purdie Salas believes reading small picture books and poems can have a huge impact on your life. She has written more than 130 books for kids, including Lion of the Sky (Kirkus Best Books and Parents Magazine Best Books of the Year), the Can Be… series (Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers’ Choice), and BookSpeak!  (Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notable). Laura shares inspiration and practical tips with educators about poetry, nonfiction, and more. Visit her website.

Backstory: Q & A with Laura Purdie Salas

I have long been a fan of Laura’s books and her terrific website that offers solid support to educators, homeschoolers, and those who love poetry. It is my pleasure to host her here on the Children’s Book Corner blog so followers can get to know her better and learn about her latest book.

Judy Bradbury: How did you come to write We Belong? What seeded its creation?

Laura Purdie Salas: Long story short: Amazing editor Carol Hinz was rejecting my nonrhyming picture book manuscript that had a bit of rhyming on a welcome sign at the end. Carol wrote, “I love, love, love those two stanzas of rhyming verse you wrote for [this story]! What would you think of potentially writing an affirming book for young children all in verse?” So this idea came from the editor, not me!

JB: The book opens with a warm “Welcome! You’re here.” Two birds are perched on a park bench, but no people are visible. Is this how you envisioned the book’s initial illustration?

LPS: Is isn’t! But I actually try not to imagine too specific of a scene for any particular part of a book (unless it’s nonfiction text that needs to be illustrated accurately). If I have a picture in my mind, then I’m bound to be disappointed by the art, because illustrators usually come up with something completely different from what I imagined. And that’s a good thing! I love this opening image because it leaves room for the reader. That empty bench is practically singing, “Hey, kid, have a seat! Let me tell you how wonderful you are.”

JB: From page to page readers encounter a vibrant cast showcasing diversity and an array of interests and personalities. Readers are reminded through thoughtful metaphors that it takes all kinds of people to make the world fascinating and exciting. Tell about how you developed the framework for the book.

LPS: Thank you! Opposites were part of the concept from the beginning—they were also in that initial manuscript that Carol Hinz rejected. I knew that if I had opposites and affirmations, I was going to need to show what was great about each end of the spectrum and sometimes all the variations in between. But I wanted it to be concrete and sensory, not abstract. So I did a LOT of playing with concrete things to reflect abstract concepts.

JB: Which is your favorite line or verse in the book? Why?

LPS: I think it’s the spread that begins, “If we could stand on the moon…” I love the imagery, because I love space and the cozy description of “earth—round and small…one dazzling, spinning, blue-and-green ball…” I also just love the depiction of perspective. There’s something known as the “overview effect.” Astronauts experience it when they see earth from space and understand with a new clarity how small and fragile our planet and people are. How we’re all united in this one place in our vast galaxy. I think we all, kids and grown-ups alike, could use some of that perspective.

JB: Tell about one hurdle you experienced in the creation of We Belong or provide a memorable (or humorous!) anecdote related to the writing of the book.

LPS: One big hurdle was writing the spread about skin color. In that one, I wasn’t showing the two opposites of black and white, the names we often use for skin color. Instead, I wanted to describe some of the infinite shades of skin tones. I tried many different comparisons for colors: animals, foods, trees, etc. I now feel like we should be able to buy tights, makeup, and anything meant to be “flesh colored” in shades like bison, cinnamon toast, and river birch!

JB: What would surprise readers to learn about you or about the writing of We Belong?

LPS: I do the majority of my writing at my treadmill desk. But when I’m deep in a project, I write all kinds of places. Looking back in my morning pages, I see I worked on this manuscript at McDonald’s, on car rides with my husband, and on the front porch, along with at my treadmill desk. It feels kind of right that a book about the variety in our world was written in so many places!

JB: What do you hope young listeners will take away from We Belong?

LPS: I want kids to know that no matter what words might describe them (tall, short; noisy; quiet; happy, sad, etc.), there are other kids like them—and that’s great. And that there are other kids NOT like them, and that’s really important too. I want them to know that we all are worthy and have a place here, together.

JB: How do you see We Belong connecting to curriculum or being used in schools?

LPS: It connects strongly to units on self worth, opposites, diversity, and community. It’s also a great way to springboard into conversations about race, identity, history, equality, and more. I hope schools will embrace We Belong poems as a collaborative or individual writing activity. I’ve written some with groups of elementary students, and they are powerful! I have developed templates and you can see an example written in about 10 minutes with kindergartners in one of the images here. (Scroll down the page.)

JB: What is one question you wish I had asked, and what is your answer?

LPS: When do you feel like you don’t belong?

Answer: When I’m at a national conference for teachers or librarians or writers, and I’m at an event or speaking on a panel with writers who are hugely successful and well known…that’s when insecurity rears its ugly little head and whispers, “You’re not good enough to be here.” I try to let kids know that even as grown-ups, we still have times we feel like we don’t belong! It’s human nature.

JB: What project are you currently working on?

LPS: My main writing focus at the moment is a science picture book manuscript. I’m also in the process of revising, reviewing art, corresponding with experts, etc., for several forthcoming books. (None of that stuff is as much fun as the writing!)

• Puddle Song: a lyrical board book about puddles (Creative Editions, March 2023)
• Zap! Clap! Boom!: a rhyming nonfiction book about thunderstorms (Bloomsbury, March 2023) See cover below!
• Finding Family: a lyrical nonfiction story about an interspecies adoption (Millbrook, Spring 2023)
• Superhero Tryouts: Poems from Eyeglasses, Wheelchairs, and Other Helpers (Wordsong, not sure of date yet)

About the Illustrator

Learn more about the illustrator of We Belong, Carlos Vélez Aguilera, and find him on Instagram.

Sidebar Spotlight New releases of note

Each month I receive several boxes of books to review from various publishers. As I read and peruse the books, I place them in two piles: those that I will consider featuring on the blog, and those that don’t fit the mission or theme of Children’s Book Corner blog for whatever reason. I highlight some of the books in the “possible” pile on Mondays (most weeks) on Instagram. Ultimately, I have to choose the one new release I will feature on my monthly blog post. Yet there are many terrific books I wish I could give a shout-out to, even if I can’t write an entire post about each one. So, Sidebar Spotlight is a means of giving a nod to new releases that, in my humble opinion, are noteworthy. I’ve linked each title to Bookshop so you can learn more. Happy reading, friends! And feel free to comment below.

• A Gift for Nana by Lane Smith
• Also by E. B. Goodale
• Days Like This by Oriane Smith, illustrated by Alice Gravier
• Donut: The Unicorn Who Wants to Fly by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Andrea Zuill
• Lizzy and the Cloud by The Fan Brothers
• One Turtle’s Last Straw: The Real Life Rescue That Sparked a Sea Change written by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns;  This informational picture book would be ideal to pair with Cayuga Island Kids Book 2: The Adventure of the Big Fish by the Small Creek.
• Saving the Butterfly by Helen Cooper, illustrated by Gill Smith

News & Updates

I was delighted to be invited to hop over to Tara Lazar’s blog, Writing for Children (While Raising Them), on June 10 to offer tips for writing chapter books. There’s a giveaway offer for Cayuga Island Kids Book 3 until the end of the month.

Equally delightful is the following review, posted recently on Amazon, regarding the latest in the Cayuga Island Kids series: The Case of the Messy Message and the Missing Facts:

“The Cayuga Island Kids brings us on their next adventure with The Case of the Messy Message and the Missing Facts….. and this is their best yet! From the first page, the reader is again drawn into the lives of Lacey, Mac, Julian, Maya, and Yoko. For young readers, the characters  become very real and this adventure is also very real. Judy Bradbury has a winner with this chapter book. It is filled with everything that would entice a young reader to continue reading under the blanket with the flashlight, unable to put it down. And, it has all the themes and teaching of skills that every teacher and parent would want in a book. The story oozes with the theme of generosity. Not once, not twice but the theme is prevalent throughout the story. The story shows kids how to handle problems kids encounter and how kids really handle them. It is a very relatable story to all young readers. Skills of learning how to do research and finding true facts without jumping to conclusions, how to think, how to listen…..the list goes on… and are all great skills needed to succeed in school. But the most important feature of this book is that it gives the reader scenarios to help as each day is navigated on the road to becoming a good person-training for life. How to deal with friends who make mistakes, how to do the right thing, how to accept others—how to be a good friend. The advice does not come from an adult. It comes from kids, like the readers themselves. And kids like to imitate kids. Bravo, Judy! The Case of the Messy Message and the Missing Facts is a real treasure to be read over and over again.”  

Thank you, Jane!

Finally, if you are attending the American Library Association’s Annual Conference from June 23-28th in Washington, DC, please stop by the IBPA Booth (#1246) in the Exhibit Hall and say hi. I’ll be there with the Cayuga Island Kids books! I’m anticipating a great week celebrating all things books and reading, and I’d love to meet up.

Final Thought