Lefty: A Story That Is Not All Right
by Mo Willems; illus. by Dan Santat
Primary    Union Square    40 pp.
12/24    9781454951483    $18.99

With each spread decorated as a simple stage, photo collages of two goggle-eyed, bespectacled hands-as-puppets enter on verso and recto. The one on the left is clad with a cuff at its neck (the wrist) emblazed with the letter L for “Lefty,” while the right one’s cuff has an R for “Righty.” Separated by the gutter, Lefty informs Righty in speech-balloon text, “There was a time when people could get into trouble…FOR BEING LEFT-HANDED!” Righty’s incredulous response, “HUBBA WHAAAA!?!?”, fills the spread, inviting laughter from readers who may be similarly mystified by this revelation. Aided by illustrations that adopt different styles to indicate other historical eras, Lefty details past superstitions and prejudices against fellow lefties, remarking that “even in ancient times, left-handed people pretended to be who they weren’t and hid their left-handedness.” As the text proceeds, it’s clear that this dialogue about how “handedness is just one part of how you were born” can apply to other parts of life, too, culminating with Righty exclaiming, “And you can’t be born WRONG…RIGHT?” Willems and Santat’s collaboration provides an engaging conversation starter to help ensure that no child feels the need to hide any part of themself. What could be righter than that?

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.