Room for Everyone
by Naaz Khan; illus. by Mercè López
Preschool, Primary    Dlouhy/Atheneum    40 pp.    g
11/21    978-1-5344-3139-3    $17.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-3140-9    $10.99

Young Musa and his sister hop aboard the daladala that will drive them from town to the Zanzibar shore. The vehicle is already crowded; nevertheless, when the driver sees an elderly man walking his bike, he stops. “It’s hotter than peppers out there in the sun! / Come in, there’s room for everyone!” offers the driver, which becomes the text’s lively and welcoming refrain. As more and more people — and goods and livestock and milk pails and open umbrellas and stinky fish — board the daladala, Musa expresses his dismay: “‘But, Dada,’ said Musa, ‘can there really be / enough room for a cycle, two goats, and me?’” His sister reminds him — and without a hint of didacticism — that there’s always room for another person in need (yes, even scuba-diving tourists). Khan’s rhymes are electric, her wordplay flawless, and her sound effects entertaining to say aloud. López’s (Lion of the Sky, rev. 3/19) marvelous illustrations, in acrylic, ink, graphite, and digital media, employ a multitude of patterns and textures, hustling and bustling right along with the constant, colorful activity. A glossary and “Note on Zanzibar” are appended. Pair with Margot Zemach’s classic It Could Always Be Worse, another uproariously overcrowded cumulative tale (based on a Yiddish folktale) with an underlying message about generosity and gratitude.

From the January/February 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.