A good reading material to teach young readers on how we can be compassionate towards other. It doesn't provide a 'how to be compassionate' tips and tricks but instead demonstrate how compassion could bring joy to our surroundings. Children might not get this message but hey, it could be a great exposure to build up their view on how they can act kindly.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This wordless picture book shows how two kids can become friends. Even though the boy's deaf, they still make friends. The illustrations show his cochlear implant. The author's note shows that the story was inspired by the author and her sister who was born deaf.

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

A short and sweet picturebook showing how a little deaf boy interacts with his environment, and how easily one can connect with others despite not speaking the same language! Wish it was a bit longer or had more of a story, but still a good one! Loved the addition of the few ASL signs that are in this!

Love love love this one. So many people from different works and cultures and background. Love love love

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

A beautiful story that was able to be told without the spoken word. I love the occasional addition of ASL, it is a small part of the overall story, but that on the dictionary made you realize that a friendship that you thought would be difficult, can be easier if you think outside the box. Drawing is a perfect example of this.

I love that this story is told by illustrations… I think that has such a strong effect to the purpose of this book.
The illustrations were bright and beautiful along with the story.

I honestly just wish the story was a bit longer. I feel like it got cut pretty short or we didn’t have enough context to them becoming friends.

I love a wordless picture book so was immediately interested in this one. In the story, we follow a boy and his mum as they go for a walk and visit some shops. The boy is deaf and the illustrations show how he has to be additionally aware of his surroundings. They also show how effective non-verbal communication can be. This is good as the boy has a new neighbour, a little girl, who doesn't speak English. The two children work out how to communicate with each other and become friends.

I thought this was a lovely book. I liked how the boy's deafness and the girl not speaking English were presented as differences but not problems. There wasn't anything to fix, the children just worked it all out for themselves and just enjoyed each other's company.

Thank you NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing this book in exchange to my honest review.

My eyes were teary reading this book. Somehow I could feel how deaf people sense the world around them. The story was gentle yet moving, easy to catch. The illustrations were beautiful and delivered the message well.

Kids need to read this book.

I received an electronic ARC from Kids Can Press through NetGalley.
Readers meet a mother and son as they head out to run errands. We walk along with them and see everyone the boy greets and interacts with. It is several pages in before the mom uses American Sign Language and we realize he is deaf. When they return home, they take flowers as a gift for their new neighbors. Observant readers will realize the families speak different languages, and the moms will use the picture dictionary on the table to communicate. The boy heads off to find the young girl and they communicate through sharing a cookie and drawing pictures. He also teaches her some signs. The artwork is easy to follow. Character expressions share what they are feeling and pull readers in. A wonderful read together to see what wording young readers will add to tell the story.

Loved this book! It opened a great discussion up for the kiddos! We talked about how friends may be different than us, but it is okay. We understood that we can still learn and play with new friends, and we may have to include each other in different ways. We also worked together to learn of the sign language in the book! The illustrations were beautiful, and the hand movements were still shown clearly within a small frame! Great work!

The boy is deaf and moves in to a new apartment. He must try to navigate this world without sound and try to make a friend. This book was very powerful. The intentional lack of words puts readers in the shoes of the main character. A powerful must read for inclusive classrooms.

As an Early Childhood Educator I am constantly trying to find diverse reads and perspectives to add to my classroom shelf. I seek to find books that show acceptance and people of all kinds of abilities, ethnicities and family make-ups.

Next Door is a powerful book with very few words. The message of friendship, acceptance and learning from each other is beautiful.

The illustrations were beautiful and the details helped tell the story without a doubt!

I will absolutely be adding this children’s book to my classroom library!

Book 101 of 200 ~ 2023

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I absolutely love this. The book has a message ... even messages, and this is in spite of not having words.

Follow the kiddo and his mom as they run errands and then head home where they meet their neighbours.

This book for me, reiterates the picture says a thousand words... i also liked the ASL used. Very clever how they teach a couple of words :)

The reason for creating this will melt your heart.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved how the profoundly deaf main character and the next door neighbor were able communication despite language differences. It taught the reader some words in ASL as well.

Beautiful story of how friendship the universal language of friendship. Two children with outward differences are able to nonverbally communicate and become friends.

This is a story about the beginning of a beautiful friendship between a boy who is deaf and a new girl with a language barrier. Although they are handicapped in their own way, they prove that friendships can be made easily if they accept and help each other's differences .
This is barely a wordless picture book with a strong message about the power of friendship. The illustration speaks stronger to support this wordless story.
Overall, it is a heartwarming read.

This was a lovely little picture book, the illustrations were colorful and cheery but the story had profound depth despite the fact that it was wordless. I think it is important that children see people living differently than themselves. The more exposure to different types of people the more our differences start to seem smaller and insignificant. I liked that the young boy being deaf was treated the same way as the young girl and her mother not speaking English. I think the story really shows that regardless of the language you speak or even how you speak (sign language, etc) we are all a lot more alike than we are different. I would absolutely recommend this picture book and I think parents could use this as a way to have important conversations about differently abled peers their children may come across.

We follow our protagonist, a young deaf boy, as he and his mother go into town to buy a welcome gift for their new neighbours. Upon greeting their new neighbours we see that they have language barriers between English and Arabic, as well as the obvious barrier of him being deaf. This does not stop the two children from interacting and becoming friends.

I like that this story is wordless (apart from when explaining some ASL that is used), it is a great way to represent the main characters perspective on the world. I do feel however that more ASL could’ve been represented in the story though and made it a tad longer just to get some more understanding of what they are doing in those first few pages. This would be a great book for an adult to read to young children 3-6 years old to teach them about difference and disability. I would also use this book as a way to work with children on seeing context from imagery in books, as there are no words to explain the situation and they must infer it from the images.

I actually want a sequel. I can feel that this book came from the heart of the author. I love the multicultural representation and love the good neighbor concept which I feel is challenging in today’s fast paced, high tech super connected but a very lonely world.

I love the illustrations so much! It is a wordless picture book and it is almost like a great graphic novel. Not much words are written which I can understand is quite important in representing one of the main characters here.

Just get this book and read it with the kids. It will help them in understanding how we can start interacting or communicate with people who are differently abled, in this book a deaf character is being represented. I feel it is being done so well in just a few pages.

More power to the author. And more, more power and support for the illustrator, Isaac Laing. You are shining!

Thank you, Kids Can Press, for the advance reading copy.