Taking a cue from The Doors, People Are Weird is an unapologetic and didactic interrogation of the quirks that make us human. Neither normies nor eccentrics are spared the critical gaze of the tiny protagonist: “Uncle Jeff writes children’s books and doesn’t care what people think about how he dresses. He says that if he cared, characters and stories would start running away from his imagination. Weird.” People are also weird about maintaining their lawns; people are weird for staring at themselves at the gym; people are weird when they are afraid of flying; people are weird for walking their turtles on a leash (I mean, I can’t argue with that!). 

People Are Weird
Victor D.O. Santos
Illustrated by Catarina Sobral

Milky Way Picture Books
$24.99
hardcover
32pp
9781990252488

I’ll be honest: as a reader, I found myself wishing this kid would lighten up a bit. Still, I couldn’t help but relate to that feeling of not quite fitting in. In the end, the flicker of self-awareness that appears isn’t a tidy conclusion, but more of a wink to the reader. It might not be so bad to be weird after all.mRb