You Are Awesome

by Susann Hoffmann

Overview

An empowering picture book that celebrates the idea that all children can be anything they choose!

There are so many ways for kids to be awesome. They can be smart, kind, bold, funny, and so many other things too! With sweet, simple text and bold illustrations, this book showcases just that notion, and delivers a powerful message directly to the reader: You can be anything you want to be!

An inclusive and uplifting picture book that celebrates the potential in all of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593202203
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Susann Hoffmann (susannhoffmann.com) is an illustrator and animator specializing in children's illustrations and short films, cute animals, and lettering. She is currently studying illustration in the master's program at the HAW Hamburg. Her short film Looks has to this day been screened at more than 100 festivals all over the world. Follow her on Instagram @susannhoffmann_illustration.

Editorial Reviews

2020-02-09
Funny, kind, brave…this book’s message to kids is that they can be anything.

Each spread shows a child doing something they enjoy, such as making someone laugh, creating a work of art, or helping with chores. The words “You can be…” are at the top of each page in a section of solid-color border that frames the cartoon-style double-page illustration. Each image features a child embodying the adjective they accompany, which is printed in bold, all-capital black type within the illustrated frame. A white child with glasses reads in a caregiver’s lap; the text reads: “You can be…CLEVER.” A black child with a determined grin and puffy pigtails pulls a younger child in a wagon; the text reads: “You can be…STRONG.” This predictable pattern along with the emphatic lines and bold colors will appeal to toddlers and even babies. This is a great read-aloud for talking about personality, temperament, and emotions, but as only positive qualities and attributes are shared, it’s not a full exploration of the emotional-literacy spectrum. The pairing of intellectual attainment with white children who wear glasses plays into stereotypes. In a disappointing tableau, one of these children is depicted in the foreground, with tidy hair and a bow tie, listening attentively as an adult reads aloud while two other children in the background, one a child of color, display preschooler-appropriate wiggles.

A (mostly) playful discovery of the awesome qualities that children can notice in themselves and others. (Picture book. 1-4)

Kirkus Reviews