One of the Mak-Tato's all-time favorite books (and mine!) is Leo Lionni's A Color of His Own. The sweetest little story about a chameleon sick and tired - and ironically green with envy - of not having his own color.
Parrots are green, elephants are gray, pigs are pink...except for chameleons. They change color wherever they go.
Like many of us at least once in our lives, the chameleon tries desperately to fit in.
If I remain on a leaf, i shall be green forever, and so I too will have a color of my own.
And like most of us that are in a hurry to get things done without thinking things through, he realizes that the seasons change the color of the leaf. And our sad little storybook hero is back to square one. So you can imagine we are all tickled pink (pun intended) when he finally finds another chameleon friend. And they decide the heck with trying to fit in. They travel, change colors and find joy in being different. Together.
We will still change color wherever we go, but you and I will always be alike.
Its a beautiful story about friendship, acceptance, embracing change, finding inner peace and being happy with yourself when you find it.
This one will probably find itself under the pile when newer, more exciting books start to arrive. I'll be holding on to this one for a while longer. One day a story about a certain chameleon may just help brighten someone's day. Or mine.
5 comments:
We love Leo Lionni! We used to read this a lot too, also Swimmy. Current fave is Frederick : ) Do you have that?
I could swear it was written for autism. Trying to tell the world "it's ok to be different," is not an easy thing.
Nona, No Frederick here yet! Will scout for it.
Barns, so true! The book's message is so profound and wide. Seems at first like just your ordinary book that teaches colors then pow! Someone even wanted it to be her wedding vow. Said it was a story about growing old together and finding your soul mate.
Good story about being different and a great lesson!
I love this book too... As I love your posts/stories/words. They always brighten my days.
You know you can YouTube it right? :)
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