One of These Is Not Like the Others

Saltzberg (Dog and Rabbit) puts a winsome spin on the spot-the-difference concept while sending, with humor, the missive that diversity and collaboration are to be unequivocally celebrated. Repetition drives home the message, as the titular words introduce three similar—but not always identical—items alongside one distinctly different one (three cows and one elephant, three dogs and a cat), before a flip of the page reveals the members of each quartet interacting happily. The author matches wordplay and pictures; three pigs and a wolf form a band (“And that’s the way we rock”) and three rabbits pile onto a bicycle (“And that’s the way we roll”). Saltzberg inserts subtle—and some not-so-subtle—variations into his depictions of the look-alikes (divergent rolling of eyeballs or positioning of tails), allowing kids to spot what’s different even among like images. A scenario revealing all the characters eyeing each other skeptically (“Some of us are a little different”) gives way to a final, jubilant spread in which all agree, “And that’s the way we like it!”Ages 2–5. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. [em](Mar.) [/em]