Pink! by Margaret Wild

Illus. by Judith Rossell. Working Title Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781460757499.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. When the little dinosaur is born, the last of the eggs, she is pink. Mum and Dad think her cute and adorable, beautiful and pretty and sweet. She basks in their love.
But as she grows she is not so impressed. Her favourite game is hide and seek, and how can she hide from all the other young dinosaurs when her colour does not blend in as theirs do, she is always obvious and so easily the first to be found. She is most annoyed. She complains to her Mother, now sitting on a new clutch of eggs, and Mum reminds her that it is hard to be different, but that no one else is as sweet and pretty as she. She complains that she wants to be brave and smart, but Mum rejoins that she should be happy with who she is.
One day the hide and seek game becomes very boisterous with all the young dinosaurs racing off to find new places to play. They stray far from home and as it gets darker, and begins to rain they take shelter in a cave while Pink climbs the hill to see if she can attract someone's attention, after all her pink colour will stand out.
All is happily resolved as the pink becomes a stand out colour to be noticed by the pterodactyl, who then report back to the parents and the lost group is found. Everyone is thrilled with Pink, she has been brave and smart, just like she wanted, while Mum's new offspring are just the ticket for her to lead around, playing hide and seek, with all their pink bodies partly hidden, but no one can tell which is which.
A charming tale of being happy with who you are, of accepting difference, this book will have many eager readers, encouraging children to be more inclusive, to be happy that they are different, because those differences are what makes us who we are.
And kids will just love looking at the dinosaurs and working out which is which.
Themes: Difference, Self image, Self awareness, Dinosaurs.
Fran Knight