The World Needs More Purple People

A cheerful, young girl shares her guide to becoming a “purple person,” encapsulated in five steps she has learned from her dad, grandma, mom, grandpa, and teacher. Step one—purple people ask really great questions—she learned from her father (though she can only ask 20 questions each day about space dolphins), while step five—“Just be (the real) you”—she learned from her teacher. As she shares, she pauses to elaborate and comment on each step: when she describes step two, which her grandma taught her is to laugh a lot, she says she and her grandma “ESPECIALLY laugh at Grandpa’s funny noises,” as Grandpa is shown in a corner inset laughing and snorting. Award-winning actress Bell and author Hart include many moments of humor, which Wiseman skillfully delivers in the illustrations, to keep the lesson-filled text lighthearted and fun. In an affirming ending, the narrator exclaims, “Well, I’ll be a llama’s mama! You’ve been beautifully PURPLE this whole time!” as a llama pokes its head out from behind a tree and asks, “Mama?!” The illustrations include a variety of kids, ages, and interests, from a group of young classmates playing four square, to an astronaut, to a stooped grandma, and the book encourages discovering similarities and learning about, and laughing with, others.