It is a challenge to know oneself, but the greater challenge is to know and understand another.

All people do not share the same opinions, food preferences, attend the same church, are not of one race, and have not experienced the same things in life. This is what makes life colorful and rich, and by understanding and accepting our differences, we are stronger as humans — individually and collectively.

Today’s reviewed books reflect on this in a variety of ways. Take a look for yourself. Each book reviewed offers something of great value to young and old alike.   

Books to Borrow

The following book is available at many public libraries.

n “Yoko” written and illustrated by Rosemary Wells, Hyperion, 32 pages

Read aloud: ages 3-7.

Read yourself: age 8 and older.

Yoko goes to school with lots of boys and girls. One day at lunch time, Yoko’s classmates are eating their favorite foods — egg salad, peanut butter and honey, franks and beans. When the other children see Yoko’s favorite lunch — sushi, they tease Yoko and make fun of her, making Yoko quite upset.

“Ick! It’s green! It’s seaweed!” “Don’t tell me that’s raw fish!” “Yuck-o-rama!”

Yoko’s teacher knows she has to do something to help Yoko and change the other children’s attitude, and her solution proves to be both clever and delicious!

Another well-executed book by master author/illustrator Rosemary Wells, this charming little gem carries an important message about tolerance and broadening one’s horizons.

Books to Buy

The following books are available at favorite bookstores.

n “The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain” written and illustrated by Peter Sis, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007, 52 pages, $18 hardcover

Read aloud: ages 9-10 to adult.

Read yourself: ages 10-11 to adult.

In 1948, Peter Sis was born in Czechoslovakia. That same year the Soviets took control of his country and closed the borders. “I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side — the Communist side — of the Iron Curtain.”

In school and outside of his home, young artist Peter was told what to draw and what to think. At first he didn’t question what he was being told, but later “he found out there were things he wasn’t told. This was the time of brainwashing.” Throughout, there were many people who wanted to be free, and as Peter grew, he was one of them.

A deeply personal memoir of the author/artist’s life in Communist Czechoslovakia and his ultimate defection is brought forward through his rich, complex art and never-before-seen private photos and journal entries. A cautionary tale, “The Wall” provides deep reflection on freedom and subtly teaches what transpires when freedom is compromised.

Perhaps now more than ever, “The Wall” is a critically important book for Americans of all ages.

n “Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It” by Sundee T. Frazier, Delacorte, 2007, 198 pages, $14.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 9 and older.

Read yourself: age 10 and older.

Ten-year-old Brendan Buckley is a Tae Kwon Do blue belt, biracial, a scientist and budding geologist. He even keeps a notebook containing all of his top-secret scientific discoveries. But Brendan’s most recent top-secret discovery is the grandpa he’s never met — his mother’s father, Ed DeBose.

As Brendan and his grandpa get to know one another, they discover they have a lot in common, especially as Grandpa Ed is an expert mineral collector. But they meet in secret, because Brendan’s mother refuses to speak to her father and she won’t tell him why. Now, Brendan is on a bigger mission than ever before — to discover why Ed has been absent from his life.

Readers will be rooting for Brendan in this uplifting story of one boy’s love of life, knowledge, and his determination to understand his roots and reunite his family.          

(Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached via e-mail: kendal@sunlink.net.)