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Why Is Nita Upside Down?

A child’s perspective and visual changes support a sensitive conversation about difference and belonging.

Suggested age: 4–6岁 · Reading level L2 · 12 illustrated pages

Nita hangs upside down from a jungle gym.

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This book can be read page by page, heard with synthetic Voice 7 narration, downloaded and printed. Enable JavaScript for the interactive reader, or open the story pages below.

A child’s perspective and visual changes support a sensitive conversation about difference and belonging.

Read all 12 story pages
Nita hangs upside down from a jungle gym.
Nita’s hanging upside down, her long hair tickling at the ground.

The trees, the grass, the everything is all the wrong way round.
Navi walks through the play area and waves.
Her feet, they poke into the sky. Little Navi’s walking by.

He says ‘I’ve seen you here before. You’re upside down again! What for?’
Nita speaks through a broken speech bubble.
His feet swim lightly in the air. She tries to hide behind her hair.

‘It’s h-h-h-hard to t-t-talk’, she says to him. ‘I’m not the same. I don’t fit in.
Navi's look-out spot is a tall tree.
Navi takes her by the hand. He wants to help her understand.

They climb to Navi’s look-out spot. From up here they can see a lot.

They perch and have a quiet stare at children playing here and there.
There are children playing on a slide, swings, a seesaw and a merry-go-round.
An overweight boy holds a stick. A girl with freckled cheeks sucks a lolly pop.
Those kids are not the same at all.

Abe’s round.

Chi’s freckled.
Lala is a girl with very long legs.
Lala’s extra tall.
A boy runs and jumps with his hands in the air. A girl reads a book.
Bambam’s wild and must be free, while Lulu’s reading quietly.
A girl with long bushy hair swings on the swing.
Look at Freya’s crazy hair.
A boy wearing spectacles tries to shoot a catapult.
And Sid wears glasses everywhere.
Nita and Navi sit on a branch.
And me, I am just skin and bone.

And you are you. You’re not alone.

Each human’s sort of strange, you see. That makes you just the same, like me.

This world is really one big game. To play, we can’t all be the same.
Nita stands up straight and smiles.
Nita feels the right way round, thanks to the new friend she’s found.

Upside down was never fun.

Now she plays with everyone.

Creators and open license

Created by
Emma Hearne, Roxana Bouwer, Sarah Bouwer

Source: Book Dash
Original: Why Is Nita Upside Down? from Book Dash
License: CC BY 4.0

Original story text and illustrations unchanged. Website and printable layout prepared by Little Leaf; age, reading level and recommendation are editorial suggestions. Web and printable layout adapted by Little Leaf. Age and reading-level suggestions are editorial. Original stories and artwork belong to their credited creators. Website narration uses the selected synthetic Voice 7.