Larry and Friends: an illustrated take on ethnic diversity & racial harmony

I just came across this amazing new illustrated book for children that is an ode to the existence of cultural harmony and acceptance of ethnic diversity in none other that the cultural melting point of New York, estimated to be the most linguistically diverse city in the world today, home to more than three million foreign-born residents who speak over 800 languages. The book is illustrated by Ecuadorian-born, New-York-based illustrator Carla Torres, who partnered with Belgian-born, Venezuelan-raised, New-York-based writer Nat Jaspar to bring the project, funded on Kickstarter, to life. 

      In the story, Larry, the American dog invites all his friends for his birthday party. His friends belong to different countries and are a diverse ethic group, and each character has been illustrated beautifully to represent nuances from his home country. I was simply left smitten by Larry's wonderful group of friends. Here they are:

Larry, a juggler from Brooklyn

Magda, the Polish Pig, a tightrope artist

Henrik, the Irish Hare

Cecelia, the Peruvial Llama

Gugu, the African Zebra, lead percussionist at the Apollo Theater.

Sumita, the Indian Elephant

Coqui, the Puertorican frog, a violinist

Fu, the Chinese Dragon

Laila, the Iranian Cat, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History

Ulises, the Greek Owl, a chef who bakes a cake for Larry

Jin, the Korean Fox

and two of my most favorite ones, 

Rimshi, the Tibetan Yak ( I simply loooooved him.......)

and, finally, the very cute...Ashki, the Native American Buffalo

In the end, they all have a blast!!!

Can a tale be any better with such heart warming characters and such wonderful detailing??

Hats off....Carla Torres.......

Ten books that I simply have to have with me.....

Yes, I know it sounds weird, but that's how I am. If I move, or change phones, or buy a new tablet, all I want is to first download them as e books, or get them as paperbacks/hardcovers.In short, I'm lost if I realize that I cannot just reach out to these books whenever I need to.....

1) Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpretor of Maladies"

2) Amitav Ghosh's "The Hungry Tide"

3) Haruki Murakami's " Sputnik Sweetheart"

4) Arundhati Roy's " God of Small Things"

5) "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell

6) Kamila Shamsie's " Kartography"

7)"To Kill a Mokingbird" by Harper Lee

8) The Harry Potter series

9) Ayn Rand's "We, the Living"

10) D.H.Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover"

The world seems just a tad bit warmer and familiar when I know I have these with me....no matter how alone I am, or how lost I feel. As long as they are with me, I'm safe and happy.