Jess and Ben are twins. Jess is a girl and Ben is a boy but in all the BIG ways, there is NO difference between them!
Explore with the children in your care the important issues of gender equality and respectful relationships. Combining cheerful illustrations and a simple but effective narrative, this book will help children to understand that, fundamentally, there is no difference between us.
This book encourages equality and respect for each other from the earliest of years. In order to reduce gender-based violence we need to teach gender equality and respectful relationships to young children. What better way than through a picture storybook? Children are visual learners and the match between illustration and text in this story will assist them to understand that we are all human — everyone feels, and everyone has hopes and dreams. Our gender should be and needs to be irrelevant.
Throughout the text, open-ended questions are provided on each spread so children have the opportunity to talk about their own experiences — allowing the child to have a voice. There are more in-depth Discussion Questions on pages 30 and 31 encouraging the reader and the child to think about each scenario, and engage with the message.
“We’re all people with feelings, aspirations and dreams . . . no better or worse . . . it’s the little differences that make us unique but it doesn’t change the big ways that we are the same.”
Susannah Low Designer and mother of two daughters
It’s never too early to start talking with kids about … It’s never too early to start talking with kids about equality and respect for everyone. ‘No Difference Between Us’ is a lovely way to start those conversations. Jayneen Sanders always gets it right. Make sure you find and read her other children’s books too.
Perfect for the Family Bookshelf ‘No Difference Between Us’ is by Jayneen Sanders from Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept and is primarily about gender equality. Fraternal twin siblings, Jess and Ben, talk about the little ways in which they are different – Jess likes to climb trees but Ben likes to play in the sandpit – as well as all the many ways in which they are alike – Jess likes to play soccer and Ben likes to play soccer. It also shows that two people can like the same thing but in different ways – Jess likes to read…
Wonderful resource! Wonderful resource!