This gorgeous, gorgeous book is balm for the soul. The author says that This particular river of ink is my love song to our shared humanity and it is my protest against intolerance, injustice, and inhumanity. The creator of the beautiful, colourful illustrations says We fear what we do not know, and I hope that through these pages, readers will learn more about cultures and families and rituals different from their own.

These comments sum up what the book does: by presenting some of the many ways in which humans can express welcome and care for others, it shows us the things we have in common: food, families, friends, fun and language.

There are thirteen languages featured (along with helpful pronunciation guides) including Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Lakota Sioux.

The double page spread at the end completes the book with a Gaelic blessing:

May you never know hunger
May peace fill your nights
May your children’s children grow strong in the light.
May the road rise to meet you,
and walls fall away.
A hundred thousand welcomes
I sing,
I sign,
I pray.

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

A Hundred Thousand Blessings is truly balm for the soul and belongs in every public and school library!
It is published by GreenWillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, in 2021.
My thanks to the publishers for a copy to review.