We Need Everyone

We Need Everyone is an inclusive picture book featuring its author, public speaker and community advocate Michael Redhead Champagne at its center. Champagne encourages child readers to consider what their gift is, namely “a skill or talent [they] share with others” and how to best express it to better not only themselves but their communities. Step by step, Champagne advises how to figure out what your gift is (examine the things you enjoy and then which of those things you are skilled at), using his own gift of talking as an example. Champagne is a skilled speaker, telling stories and talking through ideas not only with himself but his community at large. If you’re having trouble narrowing down what your gift is, Champagne suggests asking a friend for help as we don’t always see what’s great about ourselves while others close to us do.

The children joyfully list the variety and diversity of different skills they possess (“amazing friend”, “best sense of humour”, “good listener”, etc.) as Champagne recommends different ways that they can apply their skills to help their communities thrive, defining activism as “building community”. Our need for different gifts is expressed one by one with Champagne citing community needs for artists, athletes, chefs, gamers, good friends and storytellers like himself. With all these gifts being shared with others around us, our friendships are strengthened which, in turn, strengthens our community and world as a whole. The book ends with the question to the reader, “What is your gift?”

Champagne’s debut picture book presents a simple, practical call to action for young readers, making it clear that embracing one’s true self is beneficial not only for oneself but for the world around them. Tiff Bartel’s cheerful illustrations, via dynamic, active images, depict a diversity of children and their gifts, thereby complementing Champagne’s inclusive message.