Room Free in the House of Animals is a picture book by author Leah Goldberg for children ages three to eight. The poetic animal story sensitively addresses discrimination, racism and friendship. The attributions that animals experience can thereby be transferred to those that are made to humans.
In the story, an animal commune is looking for a new tenant. The different applicants always find fault with the animals in the house. The book describes in a captivating way and in rhyme how the search for a suitable flatmate takes place and on what basis the decision is finally made to live together.
The book works well as a foundation for conversations about discrimination, exclusionary behavior, and overcoming it.
Unfortunately, fat-shaming is perpetuated in places.
Leah Goldberg, 2011: Room free in the house of animals. Berlin: Ariella.
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f you don’t have a bookstore worth supporting near you, you can also buy the book from the alternative non-profit online bookstore links-lesen.de, which supports political projects with the profits. The link to the book is: http: //www.links-lesen.de/article/978-3-9813825-2-5