There’s Room for Everyone [Anahita Teymorian]

I am a huge fan of the premise for this wonderful children’s book. There’s Room for Everyone by Anahita Teymorian is a book with an absolutely wonderful message. It reminds me of a song that I listened to as a kid with, ironically, the same title. Both support this general premise that there is enough room in the world for everyone so long as we are all willing to move over and share it. But what this book is truly about is acceptance more-so than space itself.

If Everyone Makes Some Room

On the surface, I suppose you could say that the premise is a simple one. And sure, it doesn’t include a lot of nuanced thought regarding what people fight over. Frankly, though, I don’t think this book needs that. Considering its audience, simply fostering the idea of acceptance in general is important. As children grow older there will be time to discuss deeper intricacies such as economy, race, and more.

Ultimately, Teymorian’s main goal here is to impress upon young readers how there is space enough for everyone and yet we are all fighting over it for one reason or another. And when you read between the lines, it’s truly a tale about respecting and caring for everyone. I think of this as an introduction. Obviously it is not enough for any child to only be introduced to this idea.

But they have time to learn the more intricate aspects of it all.

Give Everyone Somewhere to Stand

So, though the book overall is lacking some nuance, I think it makes up for that by starting the conversation. That song I mentioned before is from a film I loved as a child. And as I’ve grown older that film has stuck with me. Thus, as I grew and learned I was able to adapt my understanding of the song’s message to the world around me. And I think there is a brilliant opportunity to do the same with this book.

That said, I didn’t love the artwork. You can see it in the cover, the strangely exaggerated affect of each character and their extremities. The excessively long arms, legs, and necks were massively disconcerting to me. The caricatured pieces of these characters don’t really look appealing or cute, but rather just off putting. Which is fine. It’s still deeply engaging for children, though perhaps not in the intended way.

Personally, it wasn’t for me.

SHARE THIS WORLD

I do really like this book. Ultimately, it has a great message and that’s always something to be applauded. The worst aspect of the entire thing for me was the artwork. So, if you can look at the cover and say that’s a kind of art you like, I’d recommend it.