Little You: A Review

Little You, Richard van Camp & Julie Flett, 2013

This is a book. I like its pages; they’re easy to turn. I like its art. The collage-style illustrations are reminiscent of the Cape Dorset print-making cooperative. The artist, Julie Flett, in a 2014 interview with 49th Shelf observed that “…the sun and moon tend to be an anchor both conceptually and visually” in her work. This is obvious in Little You, and I relish the opportunity to point out the sun and moon to m. and d. numerous times on multiple pages.

I like that the rhyming couplets avoid the usual baby book clichés, and the book’s conclusion is very affirming: “You are the birth of everything new/you are perfect/you are you!” This is my new mantra. Repeating it provides much needed perspective when m. and d. erroneously coerce me into taking a nap I’m certain that I don’t need, because “I am the birth of everything new/I am perfect/ I AM ME!”

I LOVE THIS BOOK. We wore out the library’s copy, so m. and. d. bought our own—good investment, guys. This book can easily be read 6 to 7 times before bed. Plus, it has an adorable doggie.

5 out of 5 doggies