Norm: by Sylvia Liang Norm lives in a town where everything is orderly and everything is measured—even the roses! There’s a uniform height for every tree and a standard look for every person. Anyone who dares to stray from the rules is likely to be noticed. One day, as Norm is going about his daily routine, a brightly colored bird catches his eye and he follows it until it lands on an extraordinary flower. At first, Norm is afraid—everything outside his town is so unruly! He discovers flowers that are bigger than trees, magical houses shaped like bubbles, and an incredible diversity of people in all shapes and sizes. Norm no longer feels the security of his ruled and measured world, but thanks to the friendship of a young girl named Jess, he begins to see that although sometimes order and uniformity can be useful (in a library, for example), it can also limit the possibilities for creativity, self- expression, and wonderful surprises that ignite the imagination. Norm returns to his town with the newfound understanding that some things in life can’t be measured, and little by little, he begins to let go of the rules. A highly topical commentary on the value of personal freedoms, Norm teaches an important lesson through its gentle and whimsical narrative.