Up Above and Down Below

K-Gr 2–In this laconic, minimally illustrated book, Valdivia explores the idea that while people of the northern and southern hemispheres might think of the other as different, in fact, they are quite similar. Their differences depend entirely on one’s point of view–after all, what’s “down below” to some is “up above” to others. The seasons are the only real disparity: “when spring makes its entrance in one place, fall pushes its way into the other.” To illustrate the divide, a red line separates top and bottom halves of the beige spreads. Valdivia’s abstractly stylized people with notably large red triangles for noses populate the top half standing right side up, and the bottom half upside down...unless you turn the book upside down, too. Their perceived peculiarities are whimsical and funny–an “upside-down” boy has a comically oversize mustache, an “upside down” woman sports bunny ears, a right side up man walks a fish next to a girl with antlers. This cleverly designed book ends with the people standing on their heads, underscoring the message that “they can all look at the world the other way around”– a prompt to embrace everybody’s similarities and differences, and to look at the world from another’s perspective.–Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY