Whoever+You+Are

**SUMMARY/REVIEW**
Every day all over the world, children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same. They may not speak the same language. Their lives may be quite different. But inside, they are all alike. Stirring words and bold paintings weave their way around our earth, across cultures and generations. At a time when, unfortunately, the lessons of tolerance still need to be learned, //Whoever You Are// urges us to accept our differences, to recognize our similarities, and-most importantly-to rejoice in both. (1)



**AUTHOR BIO**
Mem Fox was born in Australia, grew up in Africa, studied drama in England, and returned to Adelaide, Australia in 1970, where she has lived with her husband, Malcolm, and daughter Chloë, happily ever after.Mem Fox is Australia’s most highly regarded picture-book author. Her first book, //Possum Magic//, is the best selling children’s book ever in Australia, with sales of over three and a half million. And in the USA //Time for Bed// and //Wilfrid// //Gordon McDonald Partridge// have each sold over a million copies. //Time for Bed// is on Oprah’s list of the twenty best children’s books of all time. Mem has written over thirty picture books for children and five non-fiction books for adults, including the best-selling //Reading Magic//, aimed at parents of very young children. Her most recent book //Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes// beautifully illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 16 weeks in 2008/2009. Mem Fox was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide (Australia), where she taught teachers for twenty four years until her early retirement in 1996. She has received many civic awards, honours and accolades in Australia, including two honorary doctorates. She has visited the United States over one hundred times, mostly in her role as a literacy expert although she is also a well-known author in America. She is an influential international consultant in literacy, but she pretends to sit around writing full time. (2)

**OTHER CHILDREN'S LITERATURE**

 * //Possum Magic// (1983) illustrated by Julie Vivas
 * //Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge// (1984) illustrated by Julie Vivas
 * //A Cat called Kite// (1985) illustrated by K. Hawley
 * //Zoo-Looking// (1986) illustrated by Rodney McRae
 * //Arabella, the Smallest Girl in the World// (1986) illustrated by Vicky Kitanov
 * //Hattie and the Fox// (1986) illustrated by Patricia Mullens
 * //Just Like That// (1986) with Kilmeny Niland
 * //Sail Away: The Ballad of Skip and Nell// (1986) illustrated by Pamela Lofts
 * //The Straight Line Wonder// (1987) illustrated by Meredith Thomas
 * //A Bedtime Story// (1987) illustrated by Sisca Verwoert
 * //Goodnight Sleep Tight// (1988) illustrated by Helen Semmler
 * //Guess What?// (1988) with Vivienne Goodman
 * //Koala Lou// (1988) illustrated by Pamela Lofts
 * //With Love at Christmas// (1988) illustrated by Fay Plamka
 * //Night Noises// (1989) illustrated by Terry Denton
 * //Feathers and Fools// (1989) illustrated by Lorraine Ellis
 * //Shoes from Grandpa// (1989) illustrated by Patricia Mullins
 * //Sophie// (1989) illustrated by Craig Smith
 * //Time for Bed// (1993) illustrated by Jane Dyer
 * //Tough Boris// (1994) illustrated by Kathryn Brown
 * //Wombat Divine// (1995) illustrated by Kerry Argent
 * //Boo to a Goose// (1996) illustrated by David Miller
 * //Whoever You Are// (1998) illustrated by Leslie Staub
 * //Sleepy Bears// (1999) illustrated by Kerry Argent
 * //Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild!// (2000) illustrated by Marla Frazee
 * //The Magic Hat// (2002) illustrated by Tricia Tusa
 * //Where Is The Green Sheep?// (2004) illustrated by Judy Horacek
 * //Hunwick’s Egg// (2005) illustrated by Pamela Lofts
 * //A Particular Cow// (2006) illustrated by Terry Denton
 * //Where the Giant Sleeps// (2007) pictures by Vladimir Radunsky
 * "Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes" illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Sept. 2008)
 * "Hello, Baby" illustrated by Steve Jenkins (March 2009) (USA 5 May 2009)
 * "A Giraffe in the Bath" with Olivia Rawson, illustrated by Kerry Argent (March 2010)
 * "Let's Count Goats" illustrated by Jan Thomas, (October 2010)
 * "The Little Dragon" (April 2011)
 * "Two Little Monkeys" illustrated by Jill Barton, (May 2012)

Non-fiction

 * //Thereby Hangs a Tale// (1980)
 * //How to Teach Drama to Infants Without Really Crying// (Australian title) (1984) (//Teaching Drama to Young Children// (USA title) (1987))
 * //Mem’s the Word// (1990 - Australian title) (//Dear Mem Fox// (1992 - USA title)
 * //English essentials : the wouldn’t-be-without-it guide to writing well// (1993) with Lyn Wilkinson
 * //Memories : an autobiography// (1992)
 * //Radical reflections : passionate opinions on teaching, learning, and living// (1993)
 * //Reading Magic// (2001)
 * //English essentials : the wouldn’t-be-without-it guide to writing well// (revised 2009) with Lyn Wilkinson (3)

**HISTORICAL CONTEXT**
"Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox is a wonderful story which celebrates the differences between children everywhere. The story encourages children to realise that no matter what people may be like on the outside, inside they are just like them. It is a story which can be used to teach the concept of Jesus loving children everywhere or could be used in the Mission Spotlight section of a program for young children. (4)

**MAJOR THEMES**
acceptance, culture, differences, diversity, ethnicity, multiculturalism, equality

**CITATIONS**
1.) http://www.amazon.com/Whoever-You-Are-Mem-Fox/dp/0152007873 2.) http://www.childrensclassics.com.au/ccp0-display/mem-fox-children-book-author.html 3.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mem_Fox 4.) http://www.mssscrafts.com/miscellaneous/whoeveryouare.htm