About the Holiday
Today’s holiday was established to celebrate all of those people who make life more fun, meaningful, joyful—more beautiful—for someone else. This can be done in so many ways, from spending more time talking with someone to using your talents to make something you know a friend, family member, or coworker would love, to just giving a smile to those you meet during the day. Making someone else feel good will make life more beautiful for you too!
I received a copy of There’s Only One You from Sterling Children’s Books for review consideration. All opinions are my own. I’m happy to be teaming with Sterling in a giveaway of the book. See details below.
There’s Only One You
Written by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook | Illustrated by Rosie Butcher
Parents, teachers, and other adults with children in their lives know how special each and every one of them are. But do the kids know that? They can wonder—what makes me one-of-a-kind? Or worry—about their “knobby” knees or their “ears that stick out, that they only “smile just a bit / or laugh loud with a shriek.” You want to reassure them that “you’re different—it’s awesome, / being unique.” But sometimes the words are hard to find.
Image copyright Rosie Butcher, 2019, text copyright Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, 2019. Courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
That’s where There’s Only One You comes in. Through four-line rhyming stanzas, kids discover that everything about themselves from the way they feel and display their emotions to their skin color and hair to their talents and work styles is what makes them unique. Even the way they communicate is special: “When there’s something to say, / do you talk with your hands? / Do you speak with an accent / from faraway lands? / Some voices are booming, / and some, just a squeak. / Your way is the best way / of being unique.”
Image copyright Rosie Butcher, 2019, text copyright Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, 2019. Courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
Another pair of verses express the very welcome inclusion of different abilities: “You might have cool glasses / that help you to see. / A wheelchair or walker / gives mobility! / A hearing aid helps you / to hear people speak. / Listen! It’s glorious / being unique!” An individual preference that embraces both extroverts and introverts is the way kids play together—in a big group or with only one friend, often or just every now and then. The inclusiveness of the story extends to families too and expresses that each family is unique and would not be complete without their very special child or children.
Image copyright Rosie Butcher, 2019, text copyright Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, 2019. Courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook celebrate individuality in their joyous affirmation that the attributes that make someone different are the very things that should be applauded. The breadth of diversity, which includes outward appearance as well as inner emotions, personality, abilities, and family, makes this a book that any child can find themselves in and reveals how each person fits into the community as a whole. Heling and Hembrook’s sprightly rhymes and jaunty descriptions (hair can be “poofy,” “sleek,” or a “long, thick cascade”; feelings “spill out” and “lay low”) make the story a delight to read aloud.
Rosie Butcher’s richly colored and engaging illustrations teem with action and exuberance as first one little girl is introduced as she gets ready for school and then joins a group of children and adults at the bus stop. In this two-page spread, a boy and his mother converse through sign language, an older brother holds the handles of his sibling’s wheelchair, and another sibling pair—this brother and sister red-haired and freckled—wait behind a boy with forearm crutches to board the bus. The other children that readers will follow through the story—some shy, some gregarious, some alone, and some with a friend—also congregate on the sidewalk with their parents.
Throughout the year as the kids have a party, go to the zoo, attend a play, frolic in the snow, play on the playground and more, readers see how the children, each with their unique personalities and abilities, interact together. In the final two spreads, readers meet the kids’ families, which include two dads, two moms, moms and dads, and single parents.
A beautiful way for adults to share the wonderful uniqueness of their own child or children while also instilling in them an appreciation for the uniqueness of every person, There’s Only One You would be an inspirational addition to home, classroom, and public library collections.
Ages 3 – 8
Sterling Children’s Books, 2019 | ISBN 978-1454922926
Discover more about Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook and their books on their website.
National Making Life Beautiful Day Activity
Initial Bookend
Kids can show all of their unique qualities with this easy-to-make initial decoration or bookend!
Supplies
- Wooden letter block in the child’s first initial or both initials
- Chalkboard paint
- Chalk
- Paint brush
Directions
- Paint the wooden letter with the chalkboard paint, let dry
- With the chalk, write words that your think best describe you on the letter
- Display your letter on your bookshelf!
You can find There’s Only One You at these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound
Picture Book Review
celebratepicturebooks.com 