Why Is Nita Upside Down?

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Why Is Nita Upside Down?
Illustrated by Sarah Bouwer
Written by Roxana Bouwer
Designed by Emma Hearne
with the help of the Book Dash participants in Johannesburg on 27 June 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-928318-25-5
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Why
Is Nita
Upside
Down

?

Roxana Bouwer
Sarah Bouwer
Emma  Hearne

Nita’s hanging upside down,
her long hair tickling at the ground.
The trees, the grass, the everything
is all the wrong way round.

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?’

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 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.

Those kids are not the same at all.
Abe’s round.

Chi’s freckled,

Lala’s extra tall.

Bambam’s wild and must be free,

while Lulu’s reading quietly.

Look at Freya's crazy hair.

And Sid wears glasses everywhere.

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 feels the right way round,
thanks to the new friend
she’s found.
Upside down was never fun.
Now she plays with everyone.