Children's Literature Review: Same, Same but Different

Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
Published 2011
Genre: children's, cultures, picture

What does the text say?

• Elliot from USA and Kailash from India are young boys that are pen pals. They write to each other to explain what their lives are like.
• They each describe their school, home, family, and town. 
• Key themes are other cultures, how we all are alike, and the "all about me" theme
• Explicitly states that there are many differences and similarities between cultures

How does the text work?

• Shifts between Elliot and Kailash's first person perspectives
• Simple sentences on each page
• Sentences describe pictures
• Basic words like world, family, tree, city, river

What does the text mean?

• Integrates social studies like other cultures
• aligns pictures to the meaning of text
• vivid illustrations
• could imply for older kids that we are not all that different from other cultures
• could imply that young children do not see differences as much as older adults do

Uses for teaching literacy

• Early readers could try to match pictures with words: page 13-14 they could try to match the words trees, river, sun with the pictures of them. The pictures are large and vivid, and are engaging enough to encourage emerging literacy.
• Comprehension: The students could try to compare and contrast the differences between Kailash and Elliot's families on pages 9-10. Kailash has a large extended family and Elliot has a nuclear family. Older students could look into cultures where this is common.
• Fluency: The entire book could be used as a reader's theater. One student could be Elliot and the other Kailash. They would alternate speaking roles. The speaking would help with fluency and encourage the kids to engage with the text more meaningfully.

Background knowledge required

• This focuses on families a lot. Students might want to explore what makes up a family or what it means to be a family. 
• Introduce children to the fact that India is a different country, point it out on a map.
• Otherwise, the experiences are very relevant to most small children who go to school each day.
• Potentially provide photos for students of cities, rivers, and farms depending on where they live or have visited.