FICTION

All Because You Matter

Orchard Bks. Oct. 2020. 40p. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781338574852.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 3–A touching and uplifting story about a child of color being told by his parents how he matters. A Black couple who are expecting a child begin to speak to the baby while still in the womb about how his life matters. As the child grows, poetic text reveals that “stars sprayed across the sky” and that he comes from descendants of kings and queens. As he becomes a toddler and his mother reads to him, he sees in the pages of the story characters and images of children like him. Beautiful collages carry the messages of “you matter,” not to give up despite adversity, and that “beauty and strength is within you.” A powerful tale in a broken world, this will give children hope and parents comfort.
VERDICT Like Kristina Evans’s What’s Special About Me, Mama?, this also depicts a mother speaking to a child of color about his worth; a very timely story and a wonderful addition to school and public libraries.–Annmarie Braithwaite, New York P.L., New York City

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