I Like Myself! Board Book

This book makes me incredibly sad.

It's such an obvious display of unconscious bias, and it continues to be one of the most prominent board books featuring a kid of color. The images are weird and unattractive. This is NOT the way you want your kid to see themself, especially in the confusing world of being a minority and not knowing where they fit in. The main character has unkempt hair. Makes disgusting faces. She looks weird.

I fault the publisher, Houghton Mifflin, for this insensitive material. They paired a very whimsical illustrator with the empowering words from the author, and created complete weirdness from something that could have been beautiful. If they did it with a white character (in a world full of white books), it would have been okay. But really? The one book featuring a kid of color that you choose to boost and this is the result?

The icing on the cake is the cop that seems to chase her throughout the book. It doesn't get more ignorant than this. Parents and caretakers of babies of color: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

I thought this was a cute story until we got to the page with the little girl laughing at a caged, crying lion. I will not be reading this to my children.

I don’t know where to begin. The “messy hair” (author’s words), police chasing this little Black kid throughout the book, comparisons to animals, wtf?!! Do not buy this racist book!!!

I originally bought this book in hardcover format for my 6-year old daughter several years ago as well as a board book for a friend's little girl. I love it so much that I came back to buy it in the board book format again for my new baby girl. The book does a wonderful job of encouraging any child to accept him/herself just the way God made them. It is a great self-esteem booster and encourages children to think positive thoughts about themselves! I always kindly refer my oldest to it and I start off reciting the first several lines of the text in a very happy-go-lucky voice (that she has also memorized). It has a lovely rhyming text by Karen Beaumont with beautiful illustrations by David Catrow. I highly recommend it!!

I think this book lacks a cohesive story and has some ignorant undertones, especially related to black hair. Kind of dr Seuss like voice. This is written by a white author telling the story of a black child’s self acceptance. I’m a white parent of biracial children. This is an example of why black authors telling black stories is important.

Some of the other pictures are distorted and weird. Also, do we need to have the cops following this child around in this book already? Overall, really disappointed.

I bought this book for myself months ago and for my best friend last week. Although I'm a Black college aged woman, the book is one I wish I would have had access to as a developing child to aid with my self-esteem in a school full of people that looked differently (and were culturally different) than me. I read some reviews stating the book was dark but my neices (aged 9, 6, and 3) loved it just as much as I did. The image of the girl scaring the lion exemplifies being fearless in the face of what could be danger. Her image gets slightly distorted towards the end of the book until she reverts back to her normal (adorable!) self just to show that it doesn't matter what "unique" features she may have, she still loves and accepts herself! Great read. My best friend can't wait to read it to her newborn when she gets older.

We love this book! My 22 month old enjoys it too! I first saw this at Barnes and Noble and thought it was adorable. I found it cheaper on amazon, so ordered it. I love that it’s a board book (durable), and the illustrations are great. I’d describe it as a modern Dr. Seuss combined with a touch of Roy Lichtenstein. Net, the art is unique, interesting and captivating!

We are a Caucasian family, and I try to buy our daughter toys and books which represent our diverse world. I don’t want her to only have dolls, books and toys that look like her. I want her to understand the world is diverse, everyone is unique, and that’s what makes everything and everyone beautiful!

The message in this story is truly universal. Boy, girl, black, white, blue... it doesn’t matter what you look like, this book applies to everyone. Everyone is unique, special and should be loved and liked.

The storyline is simple enough to keep her interest, but not something I see her outgrowing in a few years. We have used this as a tool to teach her to love herself, and she repeats the title-phrase: “I like myself.” This MELTS my and her daddy’s heart. Exactly the mantra we want her to have.

There’s a part in the book where the little girl has crazy hair, and we love that page. Our little one has light blonde, very short, very thin and “fuzzy” hair. So, she regularly has crazy hair that requires wetting and a quick brush. (So, cute!) We’ve long said to her, “crazy hair, don’t care!” She says this all the time when we touch her hair or brush it, and she recites that line on this page. It’s a fun book in many ways! Highly recommended!

I dislike this book tremendously. The intended message of self love and positive self esteem falls short, and in fact encourages bullying, unkindness, and name calling. I agree with another reviewer that the scene with the little girl laughing at a lion who is shown scared and crying cowering inside a cage is sad and distasteful (laughing at other’s misfortune!), and I also did not care for the use of the phrases “hippo hips” and “beaver breath”. Maybe I am reading too much into that, but this was not a book I ever plan to read to small children again. Also did not care for the artwork but that is just personal preference. Fail!!!

I literally can’t show this to my daughter. The graphics would completely scare her and take away from the message of the book. Why is a police officer being shown on a page about judgment? And why is a child laughing at a crying caged lion? What a terrible book. I’m not even donating it- it’s going in the trash.

I almost bought this at Barnes & Noble last night & initially I loved the message of the book as I read it with my children & husband. However, toward the end of the book I began to feel it was covertly offensive. Some of the lines about hippo hips & purple lips with a possibly African American child as the protagonist felt offensive & appeared to be subliminally racist, especially with the illustrations. They reminded me of racist caricature drawings. Then my husband pointed out that several pages portrayed white police officers as bullies with the presumably African American child. As a children’s book author & illustrator wouldn’t you put thought in to the words you write & the illustrations you create to make sure they are kind, sensitive & appropriate? Either these racist overtones were intentional or the product of subconscious/implicit bias on the part of the author & illustrator. In my opinion this book has some racist undertones. Giving 1 star because I can’t give zero.