Product Description

This little girl has her mother's eyes, her father's hair, and her Aunt Jen's funny little toe.

Or does she?

In fact, she is also totally, thoroughly, wonderfully herself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #715059 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
An extended family's beach outing provides the perfect opportunity for all the relatives to point out the green-eyed, ponytailed narrator's myriad family resemblances. The girl reports their remarks with preternatural patience: "My feet are Dad's, / except my funny little toe,/ which is a lot more like Aunt Jen's./ My voice is like hers too,/ quite low." Ultimately, however, she clears her throat and declares that the whole is much more than the sum of its parts: "I am positively/ absolutely/ altogether/ no one else but/ ME." Kuskin's (The Philharmonic Gets Dressed) rhyming text ably captures the forbearing tone of a heroine who is clearly the apple of everyone's eye. Wolcott's (Dog Days) exuberant, full-bleed, double-page gouache and watercolor spreads play up the girl's spirit, thinly veiled in the text until its conclusion. Working in flattened perspectives and deep, dense colors, the artist creates a series of witty tableaux: a comparison of family toes, a swim where all that's visible of those in the sapphire water (including a dog) is one arm and a side-turned head. Readers will likely appreciate the familiarity of the situation and savor Wolcott's pictures of a memorable waterfront picnic. Ages 3-7. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-During a day at the beach, a much-loved, self-assured child relates how her family members claim that she's a combination of various features inherited from them. "Everybody says I have my mother's eyes, her pointed chin. My coloring is like my dad's, I'm also like him, being thin." While agreeing with her family that she is made up of many separate parts, the suntanned, green-eyed girl assures them that she is still one whole person, "Me." The richly hued gouache-and-watercolor paintings joyously reflect the many sights, sounds, and recreations enjoyed during the outing. Swimming, building a sandcastle, biking, and sliding are just some of the activities that engage the girl while her admiring clan looks on. The extended family's happy day begins and concludes on the endpapers: cars loaded down with beach paraphernalia are shown going to the sea in the morning and coming home after dark. A reassuring lesson of belonging and being unique.
Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
In a variation on the familiar phrase You look just like . . . , Kuskin's (The Sky Is Always in the Sky, 1998, etc.) heroine has her aunt Grace's smile, her grandma's eyebrows, and her father's feet, except for her little toe, which is a lot more like Aunt Jen's. Her family compares each part of her anatomy to someone else. After all the similarities are noted, the feisty girl stands up and proudly proclaims that although she may look like others, she is no one else but me. The text is bouncy and rhythmic and lends itself to reading aloud. Wolcott's (Dog Days: Rhymes Around the Year, not reviewed) bold gouache and watercolor illustrations show the little girl's extended family having fun at the beach. Grandmother, parents, aunts, and their dogs enjoy the day swimming, playing, bicycling, sunbathing, and basking in the warm, sunny weather. The endpapers extend the action by showing the family driving to the beach at the beginning of the book and going home in darkness at the end. The pages are drenched with color, filled with movement, and if the readers look carefully, they can pick out the resemblances, too. An upbeat, happy, colorful little story with a lesson for grown-ups. (Picture book. 3-6) -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Sweet book about family ties
I just got this book for my 22 month-old daughter because she loved the illustrations and the title. It is very short and sweet, but has a cute message about how a child gets his or her features from their family. It also has a VERY subtle message about multi-cultural families. A great book for any child, but especially good for children that are constantly told that the look just like other members of the family! Very cute and beautiful pictures!