THE REFLECTION IN ME

How to be your own cheering section.

A brown-skinned, raven-haired child dressed in white gazes in the mirror and engages in a spirited, meaningful conversation with the image reflected. The dialogue is rendered in different-colored fonts: The child’s voice is set in black type, the mirror’s in purple. The reflection’s comments are effusive, complimentary, and poetic. But the child offers up warm words of praise, too; after all, the face that stares at the child from the glass is—guess whose? In sum, according to the mirror, this youngster is “perfectly perfect.” Who’ll argue with that assessment? This empowering, beautifully written book makes clear that children—all of us, actually—need, at least occasionally, to give ourselves a good pep talk to remind ourselves of our value, talents, integrity, kindness, and goodness…even if we say those things only to ourselves. This book is all about strongly believing in who we are. Plus, the more we remind ourselves of our worth, the more we and others will believe it. That mirror the child in the book looks into? It’s literally and figuratively a reflection of who we are—and the persona we present to the world. Starting off dominated by hues of purple, the illustrations grow more colorful as the book proceeds, suggesting that the protagonist’s confidence is growing as the little one ponders and reflects.

Just what all “perfectly perfect” kids need in order to boost their self-esteem every day.