I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A cute concept and cute pictures. An important message about how you can be different but still have things in common.

Just Like You is a great start to teaching empathy to toddlers and kindergarteners. This picture book can show your little one that different skin colour is just simply a different skin colour. It is especially useful if there’s a minority in your child’s class or playgroup. Naturally, people tend to group up with those they feel they have most in common and this behaviour is evident even at an early age. With children, what they see (hence judge first) is your physical appearance. Only after they overcome that they explore shared interests and at this level, it is the most basic things like favourite toys, favourite pretend-play scenarios, colours, food.

On the application level, Just Like You teaches your child to recognize similarities that come with physical differences and to approach a new relationship with an open mind. I 100% recommend this book to be on your child’s shelf.

Thanks to Lion Children’s Books for providing me with a copy. All opinions are my own and are based on the advanced digital review copy.

Such a sweet story with beautiful illustrations. Reminds us to look at the beauty of being different and seeing life through different perspectives. Allows for lots of fun interactions and discussion with your little ones.

Miki the meerkat is excited to hear that there is going to be a new neighbour, but when the neighbour arrives, it is a giraffe. Raffa the giraffe is very different from Miki, how can they be friends? When they are thrown together one night they find out that not only do they have some things in common, but they can be friends even if they are different. The message from this story was pretty obvious. When I read this to my grandson he enjoyed the story, but still felt that they needed to be able to play together if they were going to be friends. I liked the concept, but felt that more time was spent showing how different they were, and very little finding similarities. Perhaps he is still a bit young for the story (he is only 5). I must say that the illustrations by Giusi Capizzi are wonderful. They are simple but beautifully coloured and child-friendly. Overall, this is a cute story that has a nice message.

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. This picture book is about being different but getting along although your different. It's a good positive message for kids.

Just Like You by Sarah J. Dodd is a lovely story about friendship.

It is a book about Miki, baby meerkat who lives in a zoo with his mom. He is eagerly awaiting family next door to move in so he can someone just like him to play with.
However, when new friend shows up, not only is she a girl but she is absolutely nothing like Miki, So he decides right away that they simply can't be friends as they are nothing alike.

Charming and heartfelt tale of friendship, how it comes when we least expect it, how we all are basically same and how we all yearn for friends.
It teaches children that even when we don't look alike, even if we don't like same things we still can be friends and enjoy our differences.
It broadness little minds to be open to accept people and not to close their mind to new experiences and people.
Absolutely gorgeous illustrations, which in my case are hugely important and essential part of children's books.

I loved this short and sweet little story. It follows the hesitant friendship of two different animals that seem to be unalike in almost every conceivable way, The animals soon realise they have more similarities than they first imagined. I really liked the message that "Just Like You" conveyed. In spite of our differences, even those between a giraffe and a meerkat, we still share some common ground and we can still show one another friendship, tolerance and understanding. The book is very cute with delightful illustrations. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Just Like You

by Sarah J. Dodd

illustrated by Giusi Capizzi

Just Like You is the perfect story for teaching children to appreciate commonalities in their friendships. Miki the Meerkat makes a new friend when Raffa the Giraffe becomes Miki’s new neighbor at the zoo. At first the two focus on their differences. Later they discover that they both like to watch the moon when they have trouble sleeping and they’re both scared of lightening and thunder. Soon they learn to appreciate their different perspectives and become fast friends.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lion Hudson Limited for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Children’s Fiction

Notes: Age Range: 3 and up
Grade Level: Preschool - Kindergarten

Publication: March 23, 2018— Lion Children's Books

Miki the Meerkat lives in the zoo with his mama. When the zookeeper tells him a new family is moving in next door, Miki is excited that he’ll have a new friend to play with. But when Miki meets Raffa the Giraffe they both are surprised at all the differences between them. They are disappointed and decide they can’t be friends. But one night under the wide, white moon they realize they have something’s in common and realize that in fact they can be friends.

This book had lovely illustrations that went with the story perfectly. A wonderful message to teach children, that just because someone is different than you, you can still accept them and be friends. It was an adorable story with a wonderful message and I would highly recommend it!

I loved this book Just Like You by Sarah J. Dodd. This book is a lovely little story about two different animals. Miki the meerkat and Raffa is a giraffe.
It teaches you about friendships between them and how they have so many things in common. Plus, not to judge things on their first impressions and how they found common interests.
The illustrations are adorable and just perfect for this sweet small book.

This would make a great present for a small child. I just had to purchase it for my nephew.

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book for an honest review.

A pleasant story about differences. Smooth text and great pictures. Perfect for preschool and there are a lot of ways for parents and teachers to add extensions to the book to deepen the story and build reading comprehension. Although the story itself wasn't a unique take on the topic, Many kids will enjoy sharing the story with a loved one.

Cute book about 2 very different animals who eventually are able to look past their differences and find out what they have in common. I’m always looking for books on kindness and acceptance, and this is another one to add to the home library.

I received an electronic ARC from Lion Hudson through NetGalley.
A young meerkat is excited after the zookeeper tells him a new friend is moving in who is "just like him." He races over to meet his new friend and discovers a young giraffe. They agree they're nothing alike so can't be friends until they discover how much they have in common.
Realistic illustrations bring the animals and their environment to life.
The text is simple to follow for younger readers.
Use to talk about how we're often more alike than different.

Subtitled: Miki the Meerkat Makes a Friend<
My geekiness shows when all I can think of is The Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon tries to find a book about making friends and it's more or less titled the same thing with a different animal and name (lol). I suppose when it comes to children's books there is no sense in being clever as the children will prefer to just know what the book is about whether they are reading it to themselves or having it read to them.

The Story
Alright, let's get to the content of Just Like You. There are a few great things about Sarah J. Dodd's story and a couple I really don't like. While Dodds does a wonderful job of explaining the differences between the two 'soon to be ' friends; a meerkat and a giraffe. She doesn't really do a great job of finding commonalities except that they both like the moon and are afraid of storms. As the differences take up more pages than the similarities it feels a bit odd to me that the outcome is that they can be friends.
Additionally I really don't like how there isn't another spread during the storm that talks about how they will be safe together or can keep each other company. It's inferred but not actually said. And as this is a children's book we should be explicit. The other issue is also with the storm. They show our two animals huddled near a rock with a tree over their heads!! I would definitely have liked them to hunker down in the giraffe's shelter/barn instead. It may seem silly but if a three-year-old has only ever experienced a storm outside based on the book they may choose the wrong place to 'hide' in a storm (ie: not inside their house!). Yes, again it may seem extreme but we have to remember that this may be a child's first exposure to how to cope with a lightning situation. So I like it when all the safety aspects of a situation are thought about.

Illustrations
The illustrations by Giusi Capizzi are superb. Very fun and simple but wonderfully coloured. My favourite spread is when they are looking over the city with all it's lights shining in the dark. I also like that there is no implication that the dark is dangerous or bad but that it's fun and interesting (because we have lights in the city and the moon).

Overall
I think this is an okay story. A good one to grab at the library for a change but not one I would say needs to be a child's home library. That said if your child loves giraffe's or meerkats it might be one that you want to be sure to get for them as they are are the stars of our story. It's also worth noting that Just Like Me is the perfect bedtime story length. Not too many words, not too many spreads and every spread of pages has words on it and not just illustrations. I find it a bit awkward for kiddo's when it's bedtime and there are no words on a page. They want to look at the illustrations but then how long do you wait? So I always like a story that has the right amount of words on each page.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I was really excited when Netgalley granted my request to read this book. It looked really cute. I always look for color books with a message for my 5 year old. Her library is growing as a result. She even loves reading on my kindle because it makes her feel like she is older.
This is what saddens me as I went to open it for our bedtime story and it was jumbled and mixed up. So unfortunately she could not read it I wish it would have been kindle formatted because the illustrations looked beautiful.

What a great message this book has for little ones. It portrays a meer-cat excited about meeting a possible new friend "just like me". He learns that the addition to the zoo is a giraffe named Raffe, and they find they have nothing in common with each other. They don't think that they ever could be friends, but what they find out is they do have some things in common, and their differences just make them learn about and enjoy the things that make them different. Highly recommend this sweet little book!

I really liked this book and think my students will love it too. I love the message it conveys that even through our differences, even the differences between a meerkat and a giraffe, we can still find things we share in common and we can still be friends. I hope this will encourage tolerance, appreciation of others and bonds of friendship between the children who read this story or have this read to them.
The story is short and sweet and follows the reluctant friendship of two very different animals - different in size, sleeping and eating habits, pastimes - in almost every visible way, until night falls and a storm comes...
The animals soon realise they have more in common than they first thought.

This is such a wonderfully sweet story that I can't wait to read to my nephew. Using children's love of animals, the tale teaches that you will find connections with people, even if they seem very different.

Miki the meerkat is happy to hear a new family is moving in next door at the zoo and he will soon have a new friend named Raffa that is just like him! Only, Raffa isn’t like him at all. Raffa is a tall giraffe and she and Miki find it hard to see any similarities. They are both just so different.

When Miki can’t get to sleep, he waits for his mom to doze off before climbing out of his burrow to look at the moon. As he climbs out, Miki sees that Raffa is already out there. Raffa also can’t sleep and also enjoys looking at the moon. Some of Miki and Raffa’s similarities quickly become apparent as lightning flashes, thunder booms, and they are both scared. Both come away from the experience realizing that they do have a lot in common.

Just Like You is a cute picture book with an important message given in a friendly way: while we all have differences (and some can be very apparent like our height), we also have many similarities. We don’t have to be exactly the same to be friends, and sometimes our differences help our friends experiences things in a new way.

This book is a great lesson to not judge a person by appearance. Because who knows, you may have a lot in common! This is exactly what happens when a meerkat meets a giraffe.

I think this book was a little too deep for my 5 year old. She’s way too young to judge anyone by their looks. Better for slightly older kids.