I used this book the week after the attacks on LGBT people in Orlando, in both assembly and later as the basis for a PSHE lesson. Mole asks various animals how big the world is; the spider believes the world is as big as her web and the horse believes the world to be as big as his field. The whale, however, takes Mole on a journey across the globe to discover the huge diversity of places that can be visited. The message in the story is that the world is as big as you want it to be.
I'm linking this to prejudice and encouraging children to look for diversity, meet different people and be open to new experiences. Imagine if you stayed in the same place all your life, talking only to people who had the same skin as you, practised the same faith as you or spoke your language; your world would be tiny like spider's web. It's great to travel beyond your web; meet different people, hear different ideas and exchange dialogue. Its how we learn and accept each other.
We are not afraid of difference or of diversity. We want to meet different people in different places and listen to different stories. That's why we say there are No Outsiders; everyone is welcome in our world and our job is to spread that message.
