Cheri J. Meiners

Feel Confident! (Being the Best Me Series)
By Cheri J Meiners, M. Ed, Illustrations by Elizabeth Allen
Free Spirit Publishing, 2013
Review by Debra Louise Scott

Feel Confident! is one of a new four-book series from Free Spirit Publishing called “Being the Best Me”. The other books in the series are: Be Positive! , Have Courage! , and Bounce Back! Feel Confident! encourages the child to understand how important they are, and how their belief in themselves affects others.

Feel Confident! starts show more out with “I like being me- a very important person!” This sets the tone for the rest of the book, helping children have confidence in who they are, all by themselves. The book quickly goes on to include trust in those around them who care for them. “They know me best and care for me.”

This book shows that every day there are things we do a little better than we did before, “Each day I grow and get stronger. I love all that my body can do!” This is paired with a list of words that we may take for granted instead of appreciating how they make us unique and strong: touch, sing, run, walk, dance, jump, breathe, hear, smell, and see. The next page has another word list for specific thoughts that affect the child’s confidence: do my best, believe, learn, trust, imagine, be brave, dare, keep trying, I can do it!

The book also encourages children to try something new, and have confidence that maybe they will like it and even be good at it. It also encourages them to make good choices that include the needs of others and to think about when they can do something for themselves or need to ask for help. Surprisingly, it also includes body language which is often overlooked in children’s books, “I show that I believe in myself when I stand up straight, look people in the eye, and smile.”

The author returns to the main themes of the book at the end with well worded reinforcement, “I am important and I’m able to do important things. I can believe in myself and all that I have to give. I feel confident that I can be the person I want to be- because in many ways I already am.”

The downside to this book is that it is for ‘normal’ children. A child with a disability may find it more difficult to identify in some parts. A child that cannot run, cannot breathe well or that must take extraordinary precautions each day (as in those severely allergic to common things) will not feel confident in situations that they have been trained to recognize as dangerous even though their companions run gleefully towards it. They instead experience confusion and a sense of loss.

The word list that surrounds a child happily running especially seems challenging (touch, sing, run, walk, dance, jump, breathe, hear, smell, see). How will a deaf or blind child hear or see? Even one page acknowledging this difference would make the whole book make more sense.

Nevertheless, it is a good book for the subject and the age level. It is clear and well written, with real life situations that most children encounter all the time. Most of the vocabulary is suitable for young readers to sound out by themselves and the illustrations are expressive and simple so that it is easy to see how each character feels about what is happening.

After the story, there is a teacher/parent guide to the book with tips on how to discuss and reinforce the issues presented. There is a list of keywords and additional questions separated nicely by page grouping for a more in depth discussion and then several games that can be incorporated into the lesson. show less

In this story, it informs children that everyone is different in size, shape, and color, but everyone is alike in the inside. It teaches children to accept others for who they are.

I love this book, because the illustrator uses all different kinds of children with different cultures and has pictures with children who have disabilities.

In the classroom, as a read the book to the children, I can ask questions on what's happening in each picture. After reading the story, I would make a show more worksheet with squares asking questions like, what is your favorite color, how old are you, how many people are in your family, and etc. After the children have filled out the worksheet, as a group, we would talk about ways we are similar and different. show less

Be Positive! (Being the Best Me Series)
By Cheri J Meiners, M. Ed, Illustrations by Elizabeth Allen
Free Spirit Publishing, 2013
Review by Debra Louise Scott

Be Positive! is one of a new four-book series from Free Spirit Publishing called “Being the Best Me”. The other books in the series are: Feel Confident!, Have Courage! , and Bounce Back! Be Positive! takes a comprehensive look at ways to have a good attitude about not only things you like, but even things that you might not like so show more much.

Be Positive! starts out with waking up, and expecting to have a ‘great new day’, then shows how our attitudes are a choice we make about everyday things that can make a difference not only for ourselves, but for those around us. It then shows children engaged in activities by themselves and with others, learning new things, and trying their best at hard things. One of the sentences I liked was, “I can do important things with my head and hands, and with my heart.” This is a very wonderful aspect of having a positive attitude. It is not just doing something you always do, it is about thinking about what you are doing and caring about it as well.

This book also moves a child from self-centered activity to understanding how actions involve others. “Doing something nice for someone can help me feel happy faster than anything else.” Another difficult concept for children happens when bad things happen, or when things don’t go their way. I am glad the author didn’t go overboard on this, as so many very bad things do sometimes happen. Instead, she uses normal things nearly every child can relate to, like bad weather or going to the dentist. This leaves the very difficult questions for another book, more targeted to the issue.

This is a delightful addition to the series. It is clear and well written, with real life situations that children encounter all the time. The book ends with a dress up party and encourages the child to think positively of what they might want to be when they grow up and then reinforces the notion that being positive and happy is a choice, “I can choose to be positive and happy, and expect the best. I have the power to be the very best me.”

After the story, there is a teacher/parent guide to the book with tips on how to discuss and reinforce the issues presented. There is a list of keywords and additional questions separated nicely by page grouping for a more in depth discussion.

The vocabulary of the story is suitable for young readers to sound out by themselves, but not the included instructions which are intended solely for the adult. The illustrations are expressive and simple so that it is easy to see how each character feels about what is happening. show less

I enjoyed this book as it demonstrates to children different ways to join in and play with other people. It teaches children to ask different friends to play as well as taking turns. I as well enjoyed how it teaches children that some peers might say no, so instead look for other friends to play with. This book is great for children ages 2-4 years old.