Even Steven: A Book About Sharing

PreS-Gr 2–Witty and surprising, this title dances flawlessly along the border between outright humor and smart, spot-on social-emotional teaching. Even Steven wants everything to be even, but there are lots of different ways to share, each of which Steven pushes to the extreme, resulting in hilarious but revealing lessons. Yes, it’s good to share a cookie by cutting it in half, but what about a book? And yes, it’s good to take turns on the swing, but as for taking turns with an umbrella, everyone ends up wet. The story follows a comic-book/graphic-novel format, with one, two, or three frames per page. The art is vibrant, warm, and full of movement. Although the text could easily be read aloud to a group, the level of detail in some of the pictures requires a close-up look, and so it’s probably best for an adult to read to two or three students at the most. Steven is white with ginger hair; the community around Steven is joyfully diverse.