Momo celebrating time to read: I like, I don't like by Anna Baccelliere illustrated by Ale Ale

Every child in the world has the right:

to have a family
to play
to receive an education
to be taken care of
to be comforted
to not be mistreated in any way
to be loved
to have a name and a nationality
to express their opinions
to meet others and make friends
to have a life of dignity

AND YET ...

This book shows a child enjoying every day life contrasted with the life of a child worker.

One child likes shoes (big ones her mum wears are fun to play with) while the other is working as a shoe shiner. One child likes his Lego bricks while the other carries actual heavy bricks from the kiln on his head. One child lies on her favourite rug while the other child works at a loom - her back is not even supported as she sits all day on a hard bench. Another young child enjoys talking to her friends on her own mobile phone while a young boy scavenges at the rubbish dump sifting through broken phones looking for materials to sell.

The illustrations are stylised photographs that are painted and textured. They look straight into the faces of children from both sides of wealth and poverty,

contrasting broad smiles with a deep weariness.

This is one of the most profound books I have discovered this year. It needs to be in every school library and I am planning to add a copy to my own bulging shelves. I would have loved to share this book with my senior primary students as a part of our unit of work on the Rights of the Child.

This book is also a perfect title to share the UN Sustainable Devlopment Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth.

I like, I don't like was originally written in Italian with the title Amo non amo . Ale + Ale are the Italian artists Alessandro Lecis and Alessandra Panzeri. Anna Baccelliere also lives in Italy.

The "school-librarian part of my brain gets excited when I see books like this. That is, I think about teachers who may need particular books at different moments in their curriculum throughout the year. Those teachers wanting to talk to students about child labor—and, really, I’d use this book with middle schoolers or high schoolers too—would be wise to pick up a copy of this." Seven Impossible things Before Breakfast

A hard, heartfelt read. Kirkus

The book never loses sight of its purpose, pairing wealthy children with those living in poverty and doing child labor is a way to make sure that the message resonates with children and that they learn about their privilege in the world. Waking Brain Cells

This book will encourage children to look at the world from someone else’s point of view – perhaps more important now than ever, and to feel gratitude for what they have. Rhapsody in Books

With your senior primary students I would follow the sharing of I like, I don't like with a brief book talk about each of these: