Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!

Lin, Grace. 2010. LING & TING: NOT EXACTLY THE SAME! New York: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316024525 [Suggested Grade Levels K-2]

REVIEW
Though Ling and Ting are identical twins, as the title of this beginning reader suggests, they are not exactly the same. Throughout six chapters, readers will discover that Ling is calm and careful and Ting is active and spunky. Despite their differences, Ling and Ting enjoy each other’s company and are the best of friends. Each chapter tells its own humorous story, but Lin also expertly connects the chapters together. Though the book ends with a satisfying conclusion, readers can only hope that Lin will provide more tales of Ling and Ting in the future. Simple, framed illustrations accompany and support the text.

CONNECTIONS
While Ling and Ting appear at first sight to be very similar, upon further investigation, they are actually quite different. This book provides the perfect segue for a discussion of similarities and differences. For young children, an open sorting activity using images of shapes of a variety of sizes and colors will further the notion of similar and different (as some children may choose to sort by shape, some by size, and others by color). For older children, this book can be used in conjunction with a word sort using words ending in -ed. Though the endings all look similar, some will be pronounced -ed (weeded), some –d (moved), and some –t (dropped).

RELATED BOOKS
Other picture books about similarities and differences:
Hills, Tad. DUCK & GOOSE. ISBN 9780375836114
Henkes, Kevin. KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON. ISBN 9780060588281
Cannon, Janell. STELLA LUNA. ISBN 9783551515216
Lionni, Leo. FISH IS FISH. ISBN 9780394827995

By Maria Cahill