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A review by spellingbat
Most People by Michael Leannah
3.0
I was on board with this book for much of the text, I appreciated the inclusivity of the illustrations (people representing a wide variety of races, ages, physical abilities*, family-types, living situations, lifestyles, and hobbies). One passage really jumped out at me as misleading and unfortunate in a book designed for allaying fears about "bad people": "A person who is frowning and mad, or sad, or mean is like a sour grape in a bunch of sweet grapes...Everyone looks nicer when they smile and laugh." This sounds almost like it's encouraging kids to not display anger or sadness, which are both extremely valid emotions that we need to be guided in how to deal with as opposed to just hiding it or not feeling that way. It's a small thing, but it can have big impact if kids aren't getting other validation on how to deal with negative emotions.
*The book has an elderly woman using a cane as well as a younger woman with sunglasses and an assistance dog, but there is also a throw-away line about "Most people like to run and dance and play" which indicates that's what "good" people do with no acknowledgement that plenty of "good" people have disabilities that prevent them from doing those things and it doesn't take away from their goodness. I understand the point of the book is to talk about how good people outnumber bad, but it doesn't have to reinforce unfortunate stereotypes in the bargain.
*The book has an elderly woman using a cane as well as a younger woman with sunglasses and an assistance dog, but there is also a throw-away line about "Most people like to run and dance and play" which indicates that's what "good" people do with no acknowledgement that plenty of "good" people have disabilities that prevent them from doing those things and it doesn't take away from their goodness. I understand the point of the book is to talk about how good people outnumber bad, but it doesn't have to reinforce unfortunate stereotypes in the bargain.