The world could always use a few extra reminders about empathy and kindness, but perhaps especially right now, and a reading hosted by PBS Kids is sure to provide just that. Tomorrow afternoon, author Christian Robinson will stop by PBS Kids to read You Matter, a new children's book all about "seeing the world from different points of view."
Robinson will sit down on Friday, June 5 to read from his new book You Matter, which he also illustrated, for PBS Kids on the network's YouTube and Facebook channels at 12 pm ET. Robinson is the latest to read to kids as part of PBS Kids' Read-Along series, following Kristen Bell's reading of Goodnight, Daniel Tiger this past Monday. Next Monday, June 8, Bell will be reading her own children's book The World Needs More Purple People, which she co-wrote with Benjamin Hart. Michelle and Barack Obama also read aloud to kids as part of the program.
In You Matter, which was released on June 2, Robinson tells a story of perspectives, a way of looking at the same situation from two different lenses. Like a scene with bird watchers shown from their perspective and that of the pigeons they are observing, for instance.
"In this full, bright, and beautiful picture book, many different perspectives around the world are deftly and empathetically explored — from a pair of bird-watchers to the pigeons they’re feeding," the book's description reads. "Young readers will be drawn into the luminous illustrations inviting them to engage with the world in a new way and see how everyone is connected, and that everyone matters."
This new book by Robinson might feel especially poignant for parents trying to explain the state of the world we live in right now. As millions of people are protesting against racial injustices but others are staying inside amid the ongoing pandemic and showing their support in other ways. As the whole country is impossibly divided looking at the same situation with two completely different versions of their own truth.
As Robinson wrote on Instagram about his new book: "You Matter is a response to a question: 'What do I most want to say to young readers, to anyone who picks up this book?' You Matter is also the result of a deeply felt concern that not every child receives that message, or is treated as if they or their life matters."
Your kids can hear this message themselves when Robinson reads You Matter on Friday, June 5.
