Teaching point of view to children is not only a standard, but a really important life skill. This is one of my favorite picture books for introducing the concept, but gracious … right now it sort of reminds me of my news feed:
“Duck!”
“Rabbit!”
“No, it’s a duck!”
“No! It’s a rabbit!”
🦆! 🐇! 🦆! 🐇! 🦆! 🐇!
Insert different words and it sounds like a political conversation.
But that’s exactly what I love about this book. In a really age-appropriate way, the book’s creators use an ambiguous illustration to polarize the two narrators. One believes the image shows a duck and the other is adamant it’s a rabbit.
For several pages, the narrators passionately express their different points of view and try to defend their opinions in hopes of persuading the other one to change their mind. (Um, this pretty much sounds like adult-real-life right now.)
Except there’s an unexpected twist. The narrators end up considering the possibility that the other one may be right … that their own opinion might in fact be changed … that the other one made some legitimately compelling points.
Whoa.
And the best part?
They’re. Still. Friends.
I realize I’m bringing my own experiences to this (and maybe a little sarcasm), but I think that’s what a good story does. I’m obviously making plenty of connections to the text. And kids will too.
Teaching Point of View
I don’t think it’s ever too early to teach children how to be open-minded and accepting of other people’s opinions. Understanding that individuals have unique points of view based on their own personal experiences leads to empathy. And being open to truly listening to others is integral to building healthy, compassionate communities who will thrive together.
Share the book with your class and then get the conversation going with questions like:
- Why do you think Amy and Tom created this book? Do you think there’s an important message or lesson to be learned?
- How can two people be in the same place seeing the same things yet have different ideas about what’s going on?
- Why do you think it’s hard sometimes for people to change their minds?
- Is it ok if you don’t want to change your opinion about something? How can you do that in a polite way that shows respect for the other person?
- Why is it important to be open-minded?
- How might this story have ended if the two narrators had never considered the other one’s point of view?
Connected Teaching Resources
Creating healthy classroom cultures depends partly on knowing how to listen actively and how to be a good friend. These posters are part of a classroom set for primary teachers and are perfect resources for the first few weeks of school. You can check them out HERE.
Related Blog Post
If you’d like to read more ideas about establishing strong classrooms, check out this blog post 👉 Talking About Inclusion & Hope with Young Children.
Happy teaching!
(But for the record, it’s a duck.😉)
