THE MOST AWESOME CHARACTER IN THE WORLD

Philomena creates a superhero and goes on a fabulous adventure in her own imagination.

As the story begins, Philomena is exploring a jungle when her father interrupts to insist that she clean up her living-room blanket fort and wear her hearing aids. Her hearing aids are annoying and loud, and she would much rather sign than listen and speak. Philomena, who has light skin and straight black hair, wants to live and play in her own way—not the way others think she should. She doesn’t want to read about a sad deaf woman; she wants to create an awesome superhero! In her room, she imagines a cast of colorful heroes, monsters, and robots to entertain her. The human characters are racially diverse—though one unfortunately plays into Asian stereotypes—and some use wheelchairs. As Philomena daydreams, Sanfelippo’s vibrant illustrations grow to fill the page and bring readers into Philomena’s world. The actual plot is thin, but the lively text and illustrations usher readers from one page to the next. It is a delight to see Philomena unapologetically reject hearing aids and speech and take joy in signing. Pottle shows readers the rich inner life of a Deaf child and directly counters the tragic narrative of deafness while telling a fun story that any young reader could enjoy. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 20.1% of actual size.)

A colorful celebration of creativity and Deafness.