KIMMY CAN'T

In this debut picture book, a girl learns to turn a downward spiral into a chance to boost her self-esteem.

Kimmy is an elementary schooler with a self-confidence problem. When her teacher Miss Jones declares that the class will spend the day writing poetry, Kimmy thinks: “Kimmy can’t, Kimmy can’t, Kimmy can’t.” Later, the same thing happens when Kimmy’s gym teacher takes everybody through a lesson on cartwheels. Kimmy watches as all her classmates make their attempts and seemingly succeed. But when she tries, she falls and gets caught in her negative thought cycle once again. After Miss Jones announces that it’s time for a math flash-card exercise, Kimmy is too afraid to even attempt it. Miss Jones finally approaches her and asks her a single question that turns Kimmy’s whole worldview on its head. From then on, Kimmy is inspired to believe in herself and be more confident than ever before. Heath’s tale is somewhat less inspired than Kimmy herself, as its core lesson is valuable but its text and plot are rather sparse. The story moves quickly and lacks detailed descriptions. Yet its pivotal moment will prove a useful tool for people of all ages to have in their arsenals when confronted with low self-esteem issues. Hatton’s simple illustrations feature a diverse cast with a variety of skin tones. Unfortunately, the pictures confusingly include a yellow cat in attendance at Kimmy’s classes, with no explanation in the text or images.

A worthwhile but uneven tale about building self-confidence.