Others

Terrific Thursday Read Aloud

I don’t think I’ve ever read a Kobi Yamada book that didn’t quietly stay with me long after I closed it.

Others: A Story for All of Us initially feels simple on the surface, but after reading it aloud to my class, I realised just how powerful its message truly is. It gently reveals how easily we create “us” and “them” in the world around us, often without even noticing it. Sometimes these invisible divisions appear in schools, communities, countries, and even in the small assumptions we carry about one another.

Through a conversation between two boys standing on opposite sides of a hedge, the story quietly explores ideas of difference, belonging, kindness, and perspective. What I loved most was that the book never tells readers what to think. It never directly mentions race, immigration, or labels. Instead, it trusts children to sit with questions. To notice. To wonder. To reflect.

The idea of using the hedge is such a simple thing, yet it becomes a powerful reminder of the invisible barriers people create between one another. The illustrations by Charles Santoso are absolutely beautiful. Quiet, thoughtful, and filled with emotion in the smallest details.

One line completely stopped me:

“Do you think they get hurt feelings? Like when someone says something mean about them or when they feel like no one likes them?”

That question says everything.

I always feel that Kobi Yamada’s books understand children deeply. He writes about big human truths in ways that feel gentle, accessible, and honest. My class would have so much to say about this book.

And maybe that is the beauty of picture books like this.

They remind us that “others” were never really others at all.

Just people wanting to be seen, accepted, and loved.