The Sandwich Swap

The Sandwich Swap was not a book that I particularly enjoyed reading. I did not like the dialogue in the book or the point of view. The dialogue between the main characters is at points inappropriate for young readers. They use words that children should not be learning from. There is one point

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where the two girls are screaming at each other saying, “You’re stupid” and “You dress dumb.” I think this commentary is too negative and the focus should be more on the positive aspects of their friendship. I also did not like the third person point of view. I think the writing should have been in first person in order for the reader to gain more of a connection with the characters. An example of this is when the author says, “And although Lily never said it out loud, she thought Salma’s sandwich looked weird and yucky.” This would have been more effective if the author had written it from Lily’s perspective. Although I did not love the book, it does have a great message. The overall message is to accept people’s differences and learn from what makes us unique. Being different is okay and it makes us special.

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In this story promoting cross cultural understanding, Lily and Salma are best friends who do everything together. But when they sit down to lunch together, Lily has a peanut butter sandwich while Salma eats hummus in a pita. One day, this difference bothers them so much they begin throwing insults

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at each other and soon the whole school is taking sides. When a food fight erupts, Lily and Salma feel ashamed for causing it and decide the whole school can learn a lesson by hosting a multicultural feast.

This book is a great jumping off point for talking about different cultures and about how diversity is a good thing. As the author's notes states, "if we take the time to get to know each other, stand in each other's shoes, and listen to a different point of view, we learn something wonderful--about someone else and about ourselves." What a wonderful lesson indeed! The only problem I had with this book is that the girls' plan for a multicultural feast is not specifically spelled out in the text, and I think that an important point like that should be stated explicitly in a book designed for very young children. But, if adults read the book along with children, they should be able to explain that clearly enough to children so that they understand. The gentle, colorful illustrations are lovely and fit the text perfectly. Overall, this is an excellent book to share with the little ones in your life and would be a great resource in elementary school classrooms and libraries.

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This story uses a misunderstanding about sandwiches to explain a cross-cultural friendship between to young girls. Like many young elementary students, the two friends want to be just like each other, however they cannot come to agreement about their different lunches. This is a good story to show

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that kids do not need to be exactly like their friends and that those differences is what makes friendships stronger.

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GENRE: PB
Two young friends do not understand just what the other is eating for lunch, just because it is unfamiliar to you does not mean that it is wrong or gross. They go through the growing pains of finding this out and how to solve the differences in their tastes buds. In the end the come up

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with a really great idea on how to share cultural differences.

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Sweet story about friendship. The girls think the others sand-which look gross! The school is in uproar over the peanut butter jelly sandwich and the hummus sandwich. In the end the girls decide to try each others sandwiches.. discovering that they love each others sandwich they become friends

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again.

Good for k-2.

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This is a great story about the power of understanding. I really liked this. It's short and simple, but makes its point abundantly clear. I really liked this text.

A friendship splits over two different sandwiches! This book takes one small idea and turns into a lesson of intolerance and stereotypes.

Two girl's friendship is put into danger all because of two different sandwiches.
Source: Pierce College Library
Ages:5-7

Two girls, Lily and Salma are best friends, but that close friendship is put to the test one day during lunchtime when each girl tells the other that her lunch seems gross. Salma and Lily come from different cultural backgrounds and their lunches reflect this difference.

Summary:
“The Sandwich Swap” is a book written by Rania Al Abdulla. The book is about two girls Lily and Salma who are best friends both from different cultural backgrounds. The girls both thought that each other’s sandwich they brought for lunch looked gross. Lily finally tells Salma that she

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thinks her hummus sandwich is gross. And Salma who was offended told Lily that her peanut butter and Jelly was weird. The feud starts and insults are thrown back and forth and then it turns into a giant food fight. The best friends feel ashamed and try each other’s sandwiches and realize that they both like the other friend’s sandwich. This brings them closer as friends and they have a better cultural understanding of each other. They bring the idea of a food swap to the principal and it brings all the students close together.

Personal Reflection:
This book is a cute book with a sweet message of friendship.

Classroom Extensions:
The book is helpful in class because it shows that you should not assume that another person is weird or things that they do are odd just because that person has a different cultural background. Children will also realize that they should not give things a chance before calling people or things cultural different weird.

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REVIEW: Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what's that between friends? It turns out, a lot.
RESOURCE: Lakewood Library
AGE: 4-8

This book is good to show children how, even though, you are from different places, you can still be friends.

I absolutely adore this book! I feel that every elementary teacher should have a copy of this book in their classrooms. The language is unique, the pictures are lively, and the message is powerful. Alabdullah uses "kids language" throughout the book and develops the characters in a way that is easy

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for the readers to connect with. The style of writing is very laid back and allows the readers to picture the story happening through a young child's eyes. For example the author writes, "And although Lily never said it out loud, she thought Salma's sandwich looked weird and yucky." This type of writing gives more opportunity for the audience (young children) to relate or connect with the story. The illustrations are very animated and friendly. There is a picture for almost every individual sentence which I thought was very engaging! Lastly, the message is extremely important. The main message of "The Sandwich Swap" is acceptance and tolerance. Both girls needed to accept and tolerate each other's individual backgrounds!

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The Sandwich Swap
By Queen Rania (2010)

I liked The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania for two reasons. First, I liked how Rania explains the differences between the two girls sandwiches. Specifically, Lily’s father makes her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut into triangles every morning, but

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Salma’s mother makes her a hummus sandwich cut into halves each morning. Rania is very descriptive about something as simple as a sandwich. Second, I liked the introduction of cliques, essentially, at school. Cliques are very common, and start, I believe, in the school setting. For example, in the story, half of the school preferred Lily’s sandwich, and the other half preferred Salma’s sandwich. Thus, two cliques were formed. Overall, the “big idea” of The Sandwich Swap is to introduce differences; specifically, different preferences amongst individuals. Although friends, or even strangers, have different tastes it is important not to disregard anyone’s tastes or opinions, but rather to accept them, and understand that everyone is different.

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Salma and Lucy are best friends. They do everything together. That is, until one day when they have a BIG fight. And their big fight results in everyone in the school cafeteria taking sides and then having a BIG, messy food fight. Salma and Lucy reconcile when they decide to accept and appreciate

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one another's differences. And they make things right with the school community, too, by hosting a cultural food festival where all the students can appreciate one another's unique culture.

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I enjoyed reading this book. I liked how while I was reading I could connect with the story. I remember being an elementary school student and always seeing my peers have different lunches and being curious as to why they eat certain things or maybe wanting to try something different. I think this

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story was a great read because of this connection. Reading it now and thinking back on those times, I think this novel allows you to see the perspective and how differences between us can bring us together. I liked how the book was written with the thoughts of each of the two friends. It made it very engaging for me as the reader. The main idea of this novel is friendship and how differences can bring you together.

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I liked this book because it wasn’t a true story, but I could picture this happening in school or life so it was easy to relate to. It was a good book about friendship and experiencing new things. The author developed the plot well with the two girls being best friends, but had opposite

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sandwiches for lunch every day. Each of their sandwiches represented their culture so it was unusual to the other. The book was subtle with its approach at the multicultural aspect, but it was definitely there. The language used during the food fight was descriptive along with the images that went along with it. You saw food flying everywhere and covering the children. The author also used descriptive language when describing the sandwiches like “gooey peanut paste” and “your sandwich looks yucky!” When one girl insulted the other girl’s sandwich, they both got upset because they thought about how their parents spent their time making it with love. This part of the story sent the message that when you insult something about someone; you don’t know how that affects them or where they are coming from. Each of their sandwiches meant something to them because their parents had made it for them so they felt even more insulted. At the end of the story, the two girls tried each other’s sandwiches and loved it! The big message of the entire story is new things may seem strange until you take the time to stand in each other’s shoes and give it a try. This can be applied to every day life because we are always experiencing new things and may be quick to judge it since it is not what we are used to, like different cultures.

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Terrific book to build student's fluency skills - fun conversations and one of the best leads ever make this a strong candidate for an "expert" text for writing.

This book has been one of my favorites that I read this semester. This contemporary realistic fiction picture book tells the story of two girls who eat different sandwiches for lunch, and finally end up tasting each other's after much dismay, and end up liking it! This story is enjoyable because

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this is a situation that can be experienced in the lives of many readers as they gain and explore new friendships. The overall meaning of this picture book is to never jump to conclusions and never to judge, you never know unless you try!

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I liked the book “The Sandwich Swap” by Kelly DiPucchio for two reasons. First, this book about friendship shows characters that are believable and relatable to young students. While Salma and Lily are best friends and play together everyday, they differ because they both eat different foods

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for lunch. Before being understanding towards each others differences, they say hurtful things to each other which is something young students often do, only to find out they were wrong in the end. Second, since these characters are believable and relatable they force students to think about each other’s culture and the food unique to it. For example, Salma and Lily decide to try and plan a picnic so that everyone can try foods of different cultures. This shows students that its okay to be similar yet different in multiple ways. The big ideas of this story revolve around acceptance, friendship, and diversity.

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This book depicts the friendship of two girls who come from different cultures. At lunch one day, the girls get into a fight about how they both think the other’s sandwich is disgusting. However, when they eventually try each other’s sandwiches they realize that they should not have been so

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quick to judge. This book has some powerful messages about friendship and tolerance. I think it would be a good book to read-aloud to younger students. Depending on what school you work in and the age of your students, it might also be good to use this book to have a discussion about times when they might have judged another student for a difference and how they could handle that situation differently in the future. Additionally, it could be used to talk about how important it is to try something before you make an opinion about it.

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Summary:
This is about two friends who were the same in many ways, except for what they ate for lunch. When the two friends clashed on what type of sandwich was actually worth eating it became a lunch room war. After the food fight the girls realized that it was worth trying something new. To see

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what other people enjoyed.

Personal Reaction:
My daughter is very picky about what she eats. She lives on Peanut Butter and Jelly. I never thought about this as a cultural issue. But it is a great way to address this to children. We are not all alike. We come from different backgrounds and grow-up eating different foods. Just because we aren't used to that kind of food doesn't make it bad.

Classroom Extension:
1. Research different cultures food and make a few for them to try.
2. Have a peanut butter and jelly and humus party.

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Summary:

Two young classmates like to eat lunch together, but what they are eating is very different. One girl brings a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school for lunch while her classmate brings hummus on pita bread. They are each unfamiliar with the food the other is eating, and before long

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they are at odds over the differences in their lunches. The other students take sides and soon the entire cafeteria is involved in a food fight. After a trip to the principal's office, the girls wind up eating lunch together again - in silence at first. Before long, they offer to swap a bit of their sandwich to each other so they can both taste what the other is eating (and is unfamiliar to them). After experiencing the different food, the girls went to ask the principal to help them create a way for other students to experience new foods too.

Personal Reaction:

Children (and adults) can be quick to reject what is unfamiliar - especially when it comes to food. Different cultures or ethnic backgrounds use different foods - even regionally we are exposed to different foods. Everyone eats, we just don't eat the same things. This story is a great example of how students are both different and alike. The best part of this story for me, is when the girls take the chance to try the unfamiliar food and have a change of heart from their initial dislike of the unfamiliar.

Extension Ideas:

1 - Students can participate in a poll to create a graph for the class that shows data collected when students are asked: What is your favorite food you eat at home? Students can use that information to create a pie chart to show class data.

2 - After reading the story, students could be encouraged to research food from different countries or regions, and create a menu using foods from the researched region. Additionally, students could draw the plate of food from the menu or create a collage plate of found pictures of the food for the created menu. *Ideally, this would be a great opportunity to try new foods and gain additional exposure to different cultures. Teachers would need to take extra caution being particularly sensitive to food allergies, parent concerns, or religious concerns.*

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This simple story packs a powerful message about how we can sometimes forget to be respectful when we don't understand or don't know about something. I am going to recommend this book to my school counselor. It fits well into her curriculum. The fourth grade also does a unit on heritage and this

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would be a great way to introduce the unit. A quick story to remind students that we are not weird or stupid because we are different.

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