Carla's Sandwich 
By Debbie Herman
Illustrated by Sheila Bailey

       About the time preschool children start feeling the need of a little independence from their parents, they become very conventional little animals, striving to be an identical member of the classroom pack. This is the age of conformity, when the drive to be the same as your peers is a natural, integral part of the social learning process. But Carla breaks the mold. With her lunch. Carla comes to school with weird sandwiches. She not only dares to be different, she revels in it. She is a past master of the adventurous atypical Dagwood sandwich, the olive, pickle and green bean sandwich, Banana-Cottage-Cheese-Delight, the peanut butter, crackers and cheddar cheese on pita bread sandwich. You can imagine how well this goes over with her staid little peers.

      Carla likes to be different. Her peers make faces at her creativity, walk away from her at lunchtime, poke fun at her food. But Carla weathers it all, cheerfully composing new sandwich constructions and forging her individual path through the lunchroom with nary a whine. She is master of her own fate, and faces each new day's rejection with a stalwart optimism that is admirable.

        There is so much that is good about this beautiful little book that one could write far more than the 32 pages of its modest length, and still not cover it all. Debbie Herman teaches so many lessons by example here: tolerance, creativity, independence, optimism, determination, kindness and acceptance. Carla is not just the ultimate sandwich muse. She has a quirky nature and a kind of bravery-by-example a child this age, (or an adult, for that matter) will really appreciate.

        Furthermore Debbie Herman's audience of readers is right in the middle of that dreaded childhood mode: the picky eater syndrome. This book will be to the brown bag lunch what Dr. Seuss was to ham and eggs. I feel certain there will be Carla's Sandwich birthday themes, Carla's Sandwich sleepovers, Carla's Make Your Own Sandwich parties. Sheila Bailey's irrepressible illustrations are completely engaging and the perfect complement to the text. This book is a gem.