People
A picture book written and illustrated by Peter Spier
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1980
Lexile: 440
37 pages
found: on the shelves
Christopher Medal, 1980
Peter Spier’s unique style is due to his effortless text and his elaborate ink and watercolor artwork. People is a non-narrative book about the diversity of people in the world and stresses the importance of individuality. The simple text describes the commonalities among different cultures, while the illustrations display the endless variations. It depicts physical traits such as size, shape, and color. It shows differences in style of home, hair, and clothing. It describes different languages, art, and food. The conclusion of the book asks the question, “Wouldn’t the world be dull is everything and everyone was exactly the same?” The format of the book encourages readers to first regard what makes all people alike, and then consider what makes them unique. A feeling of both fitting yet standing out at the same time gives children a balance of security and individuality. This will hopefully build confidence in children, no matter their size, shape, color, or style.
The tone of the text is matter of fact, with no apparent innuendos or bias. This makes the book a wonderful prompt for discussion about oneself and others. This book speaks to me specifically because I grew up as Korean-American in a predominately Caucasian population. To draw parallels between my classmates and I would have been a great lesson.
People is appropriate for readers who already have a basic understanding of vocabulary and would like to expand their understanding. Young readers might know what American houses look like, but have never seen homes from other cultures. They might know that they love to eat spaghetti, but not know that it actually came to us from Italy. I would use this as a prompt for an art project. Spier uses watercolor and ink so masterfully in his bold illustrations. It would be a great opportunity to have students draw their own qualities in ink and teach them to use watercolors properly. I would then ask students to work in partners or groups to find one thing they have in common and one thing that sets them apart. In this, hopefully students would take pride in their artwork as well as in their individuality.
