We Are Definitely Human
In the middle of the night, three unusual strangers appear outside Mr and Mrs Li’s house. They are blue, oddly shaped, and their ‘car’ has crash landed in the garden – but make no mistake, they ‘are DEFINITELY human.’ So, Mr Li ‘does what kind humans do’ and offers them shelter for the night and helps them fix their ‘car’. A hilarious picturebook about the importance of showing kindness to strangers.
X Fang’s clear and simple prose is paced by wonderful comic timing. When Mrs Li asks where the strangers are from, they reply, ‘We are from … Europe.’ Mr and Mrs Li accept the strangers with no questions asked, even when the small one says they ‘make business’ and the tall one says they ‘play sportsball’. The only character who feels suspicious is the Li’s dog!
It’s no surprise that the book won the Ezra Jack Keats Award for illustration – the richly coloured graphite drawings are full of detail and contain as much humour as the text. For example, when eating breakfast, the strangers pour milk on their heads and put toast under their arms. In contrast to the muted and earthy tones of the town, the strangers inject colour, vibrancy (and chaos) wherever they go.
Through a funny and playful story about an alien invasion, the book imparts the more serious messages of accepting and welcoming difference in all its forms. Definitely a book for young readers and their grown-ups to enjoy together.
