Book Nook: A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

 Welcome! Come in! Mary Lee Donovan invites young readers on a journey across the globe in a wonderfully inclusive picture book I recently got to review, A Hundred Thousand Welcomes. Illustrated by Lian Cho, this is a story about the tradition of hospitality and welcoming others in order to give assistance, shelter, a meal, or companionship.

This book is great for any family who wants to model welcoming behaviors to their children, especially as our society becomes more multicultural. As someone who has studied other languages, I love that there are phrases that kids can learn (with pronunciation guides) for a variety of languages. Even a few phrases go a long way towards showing someone that you tried to learn something about their culture - I know this from experience. A friend of mine got married to someone from Korea, and I learned how to congratulate them in Korean and write a few words on the card. They were very appreciative, especially the father of the groom (and especially because I had taken the time to learn which level of formality to use). I've also had the benefit of being in groups where I was the only native English speaker but was very appreciative of other people's understanding of American culture.

Most schools have someone who comes from a family that has recently immigrated (within the past generation or so). Even if they don't, being aware of how to welcome other people encourages empathy and appreciation for diversity. This is a wonderful book to get started with modeling and teaching those values.