Being the mother of a 9-year-old daughter, I am seeing first hand just how important it is to teach her to value herself even when there are things she may not do as well as others.
At times she becomes frustrated when others do things better than she does and as her mom, I look for ways to teach her to embrace her own unique talents. One thing she excels at well beyond her 9 years is drawing and when she becomes challenged in other areas, it's upsetting for her.
When I was asked to review a copy of
"The Lonely Pumpkin" by Nicole Monroe, I thought this book telling the story of lonely pumpkin with bumps and lumps being overlook and trying so hard to be picked would offer a great lesson.
With today's society so focused on appearances, this book is written in a way to teach kids that they are loved and valued regardless of looks or how well they perform in sports or other competitive areas.
To test this books ability to
"hit that mark", I didn't tell my daughter about the book in advance. When it showed up, I simply handed it to her and asked her to read it by herself and then tell me what point she thought the author was trying to make.
Right on target, after reading the clever rhymes that tell the story and viewing the colorful illustrations, she was able to understand exactly what the author was teaching and explain it to me. We took some time to talk about the book and how this lesson goes beyond appearances.
Overall, I feel this book offers a great message in a way that appeals to kids and provides the opportunity to discuss everyone's uniqueness.
Disclosure:
I received a copy of The Lonely Pumpkin shown above before
writing this review. I was not compensated for writing a positive or
favorable review and this is my personal opinion of the book.
