A dad helps his son explore how differences are what make the world beautiful. I would have liked more exploration of how everything being the same is no fun, but the message is clear and the illustrations are colorful. I like how the dad asks his son to use his imagination and go to his "secret world" within himself to search for the answer rather than simply telling him that everyone being the same is bad.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

Beautifully Different is the 2nd book in the Yousuf’s Everyday Adventure series by Dana Salim. Yousef is a young child who loves to play and have adventures.. His parents play the imagination game with him to help him figure out on his own his questions. In this book Yousef wants to know why everyone is different. The imagination game takes him on a trip to figure out why. His Father direct's him through the game with different little suggestions and problems to figure out the answers for. Most of the book is in rhyme which my little ones love. I love how these stories have lessons for the kids.

In a world that is becoming increasingly multicultural, it is important to teach our children that everyone is unique and that everyone is special in tbeir own way. BEAUTIFULLY does this ... well, beautifully.

The concept of time traveling over the waves is unique and the story is gorgeously written and wonderfully illustrated.

This is a must read book for all parents and would make the perfect gift for a baby shower or a child's birthday.

Here Yousuf’s daddy took him on another fantastic journey, soaring through time to learn why we are all so different. This bedtime story teaches kids that being different is not a bad thing, it just shows how beautiful and special we all are, with our unique color and style. So once again we see the power of the mind being exercised by using the imagination. Kids would have fun listening to their mummies or daddies reading this book to them, all because they get to go on fun fantastical trips.

This story was not as easy to understand as Dreamland with Mommy. And it suffers from the same inconsistent rhyming pattern. But I like the message and the illustrations. This one, at the end, has quotes from famous leaders on being different but being together. They include Prophet Muhammad, Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi.

Added Good reads
Added LItsy

A paean to the joys of daydreaming and inclusion as a little boy wonders why some people make fun of others just because they look or act different. His father directs a daydream in which he flies to a world full of flowers and helps them survive a weed attack.
Bright colors, exaggerated human features. But what was the point of the gate?

Yousuf comes home from school upset at the way some kids treat others who are different. He wishes everyone could be the same. Through an imagination experiment, his father helps him realize that differences are beautiful and we don’t need or even want everyone to be the same.

This is a 2.5 rounded down to 2 stars because of the text. I like the overall message and the colorful cartoon-style illustrations are done well. This topic has been covered before multiple times and I can think of several that were done better. ( Tacky the Penguin , Woolbur , and Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon come to mind off the top of my head right away, but there are lots more out there.) The problem with this one was the jilting text. One paragraph will clearly be in rhyme, but then the next isn’t, and then the next might be - but the rhyme is such a stretch it’s hard to tell. It just doesn’t flow. The analogy of weeds overcoming beautiful varied flowers works technically, but may not make the point quite as clearly for kids as those other books I mentioned. I applaud the heart of this, the execution needed a bit more work.

A joy to behold a brown boy with an ethnic name on the cover, and a meaningful story, embracing diversity!