Allah Made Us All Different: Be Yourself

Allah Made Us All Different: Be Yourself is an Islamic picture book for children aged 4 to 9 about a little bird who is unhappy being herself, and who learns that Allah made every creature different for a reason.

Little Birdie lives in a beautiful forest, but she thinks it might be better to be something else. So she tries. She walks after a kitten until her wings are sore. She paints her wings to look like a butterfly's, but they do not look pretty at all. She dives into the sea to join the peaceful fish and forgets that she cannot swim, until she remembers that she can fly. She stands still on a branch like a flower until the sun is too hot, and she stays up all night like an owl until she is exhausted.

Each time, being someone else turns out to be much harder than it looked. When she wakes up at noon, her mum tells her that Allah created many, many creatures and made them all different, and that what makes us special is being ourselves and doing what we do best.

Written by Rabia Gelgi, the story is gentle and a little funny, and its repeated pattern is easy for young children to follow. It helps children who compare themselves with others to feel happy with the way Allah made them.

A bird who wanted to be something else

Once upon a time, a bird lived in a beautiful forest. Her name was Little Birdie, and she was not happy being what she was. She thought it might be better to be something else.

Trying to be a cat

One day, while she was flying, she saw a pretty kitten, and she wished that she was a cat too. She flew down to the ground and tried to walk like a cat. But she only had two feet. That was all right, she thought: she could use her wings as well. Very quickly her wings started to get sore, and she could not follow the cat very far. She began to cry. It was so hard to be a cat, so Little Birdie gave up.

Trying to be a butterfly

She started flying again, and this time she saw a gorgeous butterfly fluttering from flower to flower. She wondered whether she could look as beautiful as the butterfly if she coloured her wings, so she painted them. Her wings did change colour, but they did not look pretty at all. Little Birdie was very sad, and she gave up trying to be a butterfly.

Trying to be a fish

Then she saw lots of fish swimming in the sea. They looked so peaceful that she decided at once that she wanted to be a fish. But Little Birdie had forgotten that she did not know how to swim. When she dived into the sea, she could not breathe. "Help me, help me!" she cried. Then, alhamdulillah, she remembered that she could fly, and she managed to get out of the water. She was very frightened.

Trying to be a flower

After a rest, she set off again and saw a very beautiful flower in a green meadow. The flower was just standing there, and Little Birdie thought it would be easy to be a flower. She perched on a branch, spread her wings and stood still, as if she were a flower. But she got too hot in the sun, and her wings soon grew tired. At last she gave up and lay down on the branch to rest.

Trying to be an owl

Little Birdie headed home just before sunset. As she was settling down to sleep, she saw an owl. She perched on the branch right next to it, kept her eyes wide open and looked around, just like the owl. It was so hard to stay awake all night, and she felt exhausted. She fell asleep before sunrise, and she was still asleep when her friends came at noon.

Being herself

When she woke up, her mum spoke to her gently. "Oh, sweetie," she said, "Allah created many, many creatures in this world, and He made us all different. What makes us special is being ourselves and doing what we do best."

Little Birdie agreed. "Trying to be someone else is very, very hard," she said. Her mum smiled and gave her a big, feathery hug.