My overall appreciation of this book is the same as it was for the Young Readers Edition, which I also gave 5 stars, so my review of the content is basically the same. Here, I will just note the differences between this book (the original version) and the Young Readers Edition.
The Young Readers Edition is an excellent re-telling of this book at a level that is appropriate for middle grade readers. There are lots of familiar passages that are shared between the two editions. This original version, however, tells us more about William's father Trywell, his Uncle John, and Chewa culture. We also get a broader understanding of Malawian history and politics, and the book touches upon more mature topics such as AIDS, prostitutes, and watching a loved one almost die from malaria. Some of the additional content include elements of violence.
Unlike the glossy color photos in the Young Readers Edition, the photos in this book are black and white and interspersed in context, with more extensive captions. Many of the photos are the same, but this book also has additional photos not included in the Young Readers Edition.
It's worth noting that this book was published in 2009, 6 years before the Young Readers Edition was published in 2015. The epilogue to the Young Readers Edition has more recent updates that aren't in this book, including William's graduation from Dartmouth. But, the edition I read of the original version had an "About the Book" section, written in 2010, that gave a detailed and enjoyable account of William's book tour in America, including entertaining details not mentioned in the Young Readers Edition.
Incidentally, in case you're interested, the Netflix movie is based on this book, so there are scenes in the movie that are recognizable from this version, but not the Young Readers Edition. The movie took some poetic license, but generally stayed very close to actual events.
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