Upside-Down Sid

PreS-Gr 1–Sid is a little bit different. While everyone else walks on the ground, Upside-Down Sid walks on the ceiling. He finds it hard to make friends, and even in the comfort of his own home, he has difficulty because the items in his house are “one way around…and he [is] the other.” One day, a basketball crashes through his window and the players promise to make it up to Sid. When taking him to the amusement park is a bust, they sneak into his house and plan a big surprise for him. Shearsby’s story is simple yet impactful. Sid is a bit different and can’t do things in the same way as other people, so when he is on the ceiling in the art museum or on the underside of the diving board at the pool, the other characters on the page stare at him. The cartoon illustrations add a touch of levity to an otherwise serious message.