Comparing “The Mixed-Up Chameleon” （ごちゃまぜカメレオン）

My kids love reading books. In particular, my 4-year-old son is now into “The Mixed-Up Chameleon” written by Eric Carle, which he borrowed from the library the other day. At first, he was reluctant, but when I started to read out loud, he loved it instantly and he made us read over and over again; ten times in the same night.

He loved the book so much he even brought the book to his grandparents’ house on the weekend, and there he gained an unexpected acquaintance. While reading with his grandmother, she suddenly noticed she owned the same book; finding book from the old book shelves, she showed us the cover which, was totally different.

Surprisingly, the old book was familiar to me. It seems the old book was the first edition published by a different publisher from library book. It was hard to recognize the books are the same at just one glance.

From this experience he seems to realize when time and people vary, the same book can be quite different. Finding difference in books, every time he reads, he vaguely understand there are diverse point of view even from the same book, which I think was a very fortunate experience for him.