IT'S OKAY, JUST ASK

An inquisitive child has many questions as a family prepares to move.

Mother, who has warm brown skin and black curly hair just like the young narrator’s, “always says, It’s okay, just ask.” And the protagonist obliges, posing questions as the family packs up boxes, boards an airplane, and relocates to a coastal setting with mountains in the distance. Some queries are typical for a story about moving: “Will we ever come back?” “What if I don’t make any friends?” Others break new ground. When the child asks Mother, “Are you okay?” she becomes surprisingly vulnerable in her honest answer: “Not completely.” Offering Mother a hug, the child becomes the parent for a moment—a welcome reversal in a text rooted in an adult’s instructions. Perera’s illustrations feel intimate, from the family’s expressive faces to the details of their new home: an Inuit inuksuk, the hockey game they watch on TV. Saturated earth tones portray a peaceful but somewhat homogenous suburb, which inspires the protagonist to ask, “Why is my hair black?” The mother answers, “That’s how you were made,” hewing to the book’s evenhanded tone. The comforting refrain of “It’s okay, just ask” persists throughout the story, dovetailing with the child’s articulations of wise emotional responses. The tale doesn’t contain a great deal of drama, but the message will certainly sink in.

Tenderly reassuring and useful for sparking curiosity.