Everybody’s Welcome  

Mouse dreams of building a happy house. But who will he share it with? In no time at all he meets several animals in need of shelter. A frog whose pond has dried up, birds whose tree has been cut down, rabbits fleeing in terror from a predatory eagle and a bear who is all alone because everyone is afraid of him. Word spreads and many more animals arrive. Working together they build mouse’s dream house just in time to shelter from the rain and celebrate together.

Everybody’s Welcome is a beautiful picturebook with delightful illustrations and a soft muted palette. It is cleverly designed with cut outs and cropped pages which capture the growing number of animals arriving and the hive of activity as the house is built.

It is an enjoyable read too, with a pleasing rhyming text and a repetitive refrain ‘Everybody’s welcome’. Important themes of inclusion, acceptance and teamwork are introduced in an accessible and appealing way. There are easy parallels to be made with the different reasons people, as well as animals, may lose their homes and seek sanctuary, fleeing natural disaster, the devastating impact of humans on the natural world, invasion and discrimination.

A positive, warm hearted picturebook offering plenty for young readers to think about.