THE ME I CHOOSE TO BE

Envision a world where children are dreamers and explorers of themselves, and you have this book.

Tarpley’s latest picture book is a thoughtfully written poem penned to affirm Black children. She gives Black children permission to investigate their inner and outer landscapes and supports their choices in determining how they show up in the world. Tarpley’s text declares: “I am hope”; “I am a tiny bird”; “I am light.” These words and phrases are powerful analogies and metaphors for strength, resiliency, and freedom. Other metaphors invite children to see themselves as a “free spirit” who moves “to the rhythm of my own heartbeat” and a “gardener” who plants “dreams the world will know.” The photo-collage illustrations are full of color and movement, each one with a beautiful Black child front and center. Many of the images are out of this world—sometimes literally—and styled to represent the ideas from the stanzas they accompany. One child is a “yet unnamed” superhero surrounded by flames; another is a star dancing across the night sky; and two children who represent sadness wear golden tears frozen on their small brown cheeks. The images are a blend of the realistic and the fantastic, with hints of Afro-futurism. Moreover, the ideas are not presented as static states of being: The children are free to move fluidly from one idea to the next, as evidenced in the refrain: “My creativity and curiosity / flow without end, / and if I meet an obstacle, / I just begin again.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An affirming celebration of individuality and cultural appreciation.