Margaret O'Hair

A young girl, inspired by a real-life child with Down syndrome, narrates this book about being yourself no matter what.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful, with a bright palette, and showcase children with a variety of abilities and disabilities from different racial backgrounds.

The general message about letting your unique self shine and not caring if other people stare is good, but the book is basically 100 percent cheery. I think that's okay for young children on the whole, but show more I do know some disability advocates and disabled people get frustrated by media that feels overly saccharine in its inspiration and calls for cheerfulness in situations that don't always warrant in it.

Backmatter includes more information about the story's inspiration and about Down syndrome generally. show less

This is a nice picture book about the different types of family, including found family, and the amount of representation of different sexualities, races, body types, and various disabilities is good. Unfortunately, there's nothing all that notable or unique about the words or messaging, and after closing the book, it's difficult to recall much about it. Sweet, but ultimately not memorable, and I don't see it holding attention at storytime very well.

I am so very sorry, but this book is not quite enough. The theme is important, the illustrations delightful. But the pictures don't clarify or enhance the text enough, and the text is repetitive. I do still recommend the book if you're interested and your library has it, though. Especially if your child is challenged with Down syndrome or another physical disability.

LFL find.

MY KITTEN is a lovely book from Margaret O'Hair and Tammie Lyon (Illustrator).

The book features child-friendly drawings in warm colors that stretch from page-edge to page-edge. The text is short, staccato sentences that make up a fun rhyme.

Bowl kitten,
gold kitten,
fish kitten,
stare.

Scoot kitten,
leap kitten,
jump kitten,
chair.

Rhymes are always great for children. It teaches them the subtle rules of language, and has been correlated with promoting memory practice. And the repetition within the show more text can be used to urge even very young children to identify words for themselves.

The drawings are nice and since they show pictures of furniture, a fish and squirrel, and other items, the book can be used with older babies to identify these objects.

This seems like a well constructed book. The back seems well formed and the pages are heavy and slick --though not sturdy enough for babies and some toddlers. show less