This was not my favorite book by any means. I liked the message that the book gives the readers which was, everyone is unique and to be yourself. The book compares the main character to different members of her family showing her where she got her different traits from but overall she was unique saying, “But I am me.” The illustrations really portray what is being said in the sentences. The pictures really match the words. I like how vibrant the illustrations are, they grasp the attention of readers. I really didn’t like the language used in this book. I had a very hard time reading this book fluently because of the way the story line was set up. For example, there would be two different phrases that had nothing to do with each other, but would rhyme. Some phrases rhymed and some did not so it made reading it very confusing. I felt like if some things were going to rhyme then it should rhyme consistently throughout the book, but it did not. Overall this book was an okay read in my opinion. ( )

Sarah Durkin
Professor Martens
EDUC 417
22 March 2016
Reading Log Entry #20: I Am Me by, Karla Kustin
I enjoyed reading this book for three main reasons. First, I liked how the story compared the main character to everyone else in her family. This showed readers that there are similarities and differences between people and that is okay. Second, I liked how the illustrations matched what the sentences said. For readers, it is easy to follow along and understand what is happening throughout the story. For example when the author compared the little girl’s toes to her fathers toes there was a picture of both of their feet on the page. Finally, I liked how there were rhyming words. Including words that rhyme in a story can help build fluency with readers and students. The overall theme of this story is to inform readers that everyone is different in his or her own way and to be accepting of others. At the end of the book she says, “I am positively, absolutely, altogether, no one else but, ME." This relays a message to be you no matter what, which is important, especially for younger children to understand. ( )

I am Me
I thought this book was okay not great. The book is about a little girl who is explain all the physical traits she got from her family, but she is still unique. I liked this book because it gives children a great message. That message is that no matter what looks you get from your family you always look unique. The author says this with the phrase “but I’m still me.” Individuality is very important in a child’s development and this book does a good job of promoting that with its message. However I didn’t like the book because of the language. The language to me felt forced. There would be a phrase and then another phrase after that didn’t make sense but rhymed. Which would be fine but it didn’t do it consistently. The entire book felt like it should rhyme but it didn’t. So that through me off a lot and made me very confused about the language that the book was using. All in all it was an okay book but the language threw me off so much it was hard to enjoy the message and illustrations. ( )

I liked this book because it was a fun read with an important message. The book was very engaging and drew me in. For example, the illustrations were all very bright. Another feature that caught my eye was how the text was placed. It wasn’t typical and it wasn’t all the same. Some text was curved to fit around a drawing or some text was spaced out. I also liked the use of caps to make words stand out. For example, “NO ONE ELSE BUT ME.” This was appropriate because it was on the last page of the book when the character discovered that she is unique. I loved the plot of this book. It was about a girl who is realizes that she is a mixture of everyone in her family, but she is unique in herself. People in her family were telling her different things like, she has her Grandma Ann’s eyebrows, her Aunt Jen’s funny toe, her Mom’s pointed chin, and her Dad’s coloring. The storyline is cute and showed how we can all be similar, but different at the same time. For example, her dad tells her, “the color of your hair is really Sal’s, but Sally’s tends to curl and yours gets lighter in the sun, like mother’s did when she was still a girl.” Some of the language in this book painted a picture in my head because it was descriptive. For example, “your smile reminds me of my sister Grace, the way it’s crooked and the way it lights your face.” After reading this sentence, I could easily picture this little girl’s smile. The main idea is that there is only one of you and you are special and unique. It also ties in the idea there are things about you that might be the same as some people in your family, and because of all those different things, you are exceptional. ( )

A story about a girl trying to figure ut who she is and who she looks like in her family. Everyone seems to give suggestions. It takes some time, but she finally realizes she looks just like her, the way she is supposed to look.
Ages:2-4
Source: Tillacum Library, Lakewood