Lovely and sweet story about how walls can be built to keep people out, or to let them in. After listing and illustrating different types of walls, one child wants to keep the wall for himself, what will the other children do? Wonderful story of the analogy of building a wall to building a friendship.

Simply put, Dianne White conveys many types of walls to the reader. The most important are those that can keep us out or keep us in. With limited text, this book is perhaps too concise in conveying its intended message to the reader, which results in diminishing the power of the idea that it is trying to share. The children may become friends in the end, but never end up inside the wall, which makes the story feel ambiguous and confusing.

Barroux's illustrations are lovely and have an attractive quality to them. Children will appreciate them as they read the story.

This book has so much potential, but is, unfortunately, mediocre.

I thought the illustrations in Sometimes a Wall... are what stole the show in this simple story. The pictures were just stunning, and I think they brought the author's meaning out for children to see. I am not sure what age of audience I would recommend for this story. The text is simple, but the meaning will be too hard for primary kids. Older kids will do a better job with the meaning, but I think the simplicity of the words will not keep their attention.

"Sometimes a Wall..." by Dianne White is a lovely picture book and a great tool for teaching social skills and addressing social emotional learning. Ideal for primary grades, kindergarten through 3rd. Even though illustrations are geared towards the very young, the theme of walls real or not is a lasting theme when it comes to social dynamics of children in school settings. Surely, every primary teacher deals daily with "walls" and its affect on student groups, class management, and learning.

Sometimes a Wall is trying to send a message, I’m just not sure what that message is. I think this book would be a bit confusing to little kids and most likely will not get it for my library.

Sometimes a wall is a literal brick or stone division of land. Other times a wall is one we silently, invisibly build around ourselves to keep others out. Dianne White beautifully describes how walls can be beneficial or detrimental. A wonderful book to start a conversation about bullying and internalizing feelings with young children. (It also reminded me of the pink seesaws that were built on the US-Mexico border to allow children on opposite sides of the border to play together.)

I think the wording might be confusing for young readers as the text isn't in complete sentences, just single words and phrases, but the illustrations are beautiful and convey a tremendous amount of emotion and meaning for any age.

Not to be too corny, but this is a book divided.

But first, the good things: I love the illustrations. I'm a huge fan of books that utilize this style where a blob of color overlaid by fine black ink. I also liked the diversity of children represented. The illustrator captures a sense of playfulness and childhood that I love.

That's why it's a shame that the text of this book can't decide what it's trying to be. It starts out with a strong concept--"There are many types of walls in the world" (ok, great!), and "walls can be all sorts of things" (awesome!), now "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" (huh?), also, "walls can be bad and divide people" (true, but huh?)--and it ends on a weird note "friendship is great, let's paint this castle!"

Is this a book about how fun walls can be and how they are fodder for the imagination (like cardboard boxes or pillow forts)? Is this a book about the importance of friendship and kindness? Is it a not-so-subtle political commentary on Trump's wall? Is it inspired by Dr. Seuss' rhyming concept words? Who even knows.

I think this book would have been more successful as a "learn about walls" concept book. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro-Trump-wall, but as a children's librarian, I have little patience for books like this--political preaching cloaked under the guise of "friendship."

A simple yet poignant picture book about all the things a wall can do. Very timely, obviously, but while the language was simple, I just didn’t hit right for me. I liked the message of forgiveness and friendship, but something about this felt a little too contrived. A good book, but not the best it could be.

The illustrations are nice in this story. I love the various examples of walls and their advantages and disadvantages were really shown. However I felt that I got more from the illustrations than the wording. I felt like the text was stilted and awkward when reading aloud. I don't know if the ideas were easily clear or understandable for young readers.

This was a cute book about walls and how they can make others feel. The illustrations were simple but beautiful, and the sentences were short and easy to read. This would be a good way to teach children about being inclusive.

I don't know that I understood what the text was trying to accomplish in this book. It did seem to be written in verse, but the message wasn't always terribly apparent. It seemed a bit abstract for the audience that is likely to pick it up. I wanted this book to make a clearer statement than it did. All in all, I was a little underwhelmed.

Sometimes a Wall is a simply written picture book with a strong message. It really hits on the fact that a simple perspective can change everything. This is a good conversation starter with elementary aged kids - I could definitely see myself using this in my classroom for social-emotional learning or characterization. There is definitely teaching value in this book, but I would not recommend it as an independent read book. It requires conversation, I believe, for younger kids to understand and see the "big picture" in the book.

Sometimes walls are built for different purposes. Sometimes they bring children/people together for different reasons. Sometimes walls can make us feel excluded. Sometimes, though, when people work towards one goal, a wall can be built along with friendships that last forever.

Sometimes a Wall is a simply written picture book with a strong message. I love using books in my story times that start a conversation. Sometimes I need to prompt my K-1st grade students. I won't have to guide this discussion. My students have a lot to say about being blocked and trying new ways to solve a problem.

This was a cute story about friendship, but it isn't anything special. The metaphor was confusing at times.

"Sometimes a Wall" is a very sweet book about friendship! I have to say that I started it very confused as the beginning is odd. There was not a clear set up of the positives of a wall (or even neutral) before it moved into the negatives. The book follows children and some walls. At first the children and some walls are just there and then it morphs into some children building a castle to keep others out and then it transitions into friendship and creating together. The second movement from mean to kind and friendship was beautiful. I could see my kids not getting the beginning though and it just starts the book a little 'off.' The illustrations we're absolutely beautiful and sweet! I loved them. I also loved the message of friendship!

A huge thank you to OwlKids through NetGalley for my copy! My views are my own.

Imaginative and thought invoking, Sometimes a Wall is a great conversation starter for kids. The illustrations are fun and vibrant and show how simple perspective can change things into not what they originally seem.

This book is about different walls that individuals will encounter in society, throughout their life. It follows a group of children playing and exploring and explores collaboration, friendship, exclusion, imagination and other situations that the building or breaking down of a wall provide. I did not love this story for children, I did not really understand the point, I found the one word per page or situation quite odd. It was hard to follow and I do not think the point came across clearly. The illustrations were great. I may have this in a classroom for students to read, about friendship and collaboration, but I would not use it as an adaptation.

Sometimes a Wall had great potential. I loved the idea of a book about walls and what they can do, both good and bad. But the book in general felt a little disjointed and I wasn't quite sure how it was all supposed to fit together. Excellent idea, just not well executed.

The illustrations are really well done and would definitely pull children in. Beyond that, the message is weak and I was waiting for the book to feel like it had started with every page turn. It felt very lacking in substance.