This Is Me

June 1, 2016

K-Gr 1-Many children have family members who have immigrated to the United States, and many have had an occasion to fill an overnight bag. Here, a teacher whose great-grandmother came from afar asks her young students to imagine packing a suitcase when you must leave behind most of what you love and care about. "How would you know/in this case what to pack/and that once you had left/there'd be no coming back?" The full meaning of that question and the leap from the experience of a parent or grandparent to oneself are likely to be difficult for the book's audience. While children will relate to the diverse characters' full-of-stuff rooms and the items they choose to pack (dolls, "a first-in-line-ticket" to a Katy Perry show, LEGOs, a camera, a karate gi), their responses undermine the gravity of the question and the plight and flight of many who have come to the United States. Ultimately, the book delivers a positive spin on immigration, while throwing in a few additional messages, including that your suitcase may be "your own history book" but it is not who you are or will be. Cornell's opening watercolor images of an emigre family are rendered in delicate muted sepia tones, while the contemporary scenes blossom into full detail and color. The last spread features a foldout suitcase, ready for the filling. VERDICT Too many messages, delivered in sometimes limp verse, don't do justice to the topics broached.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
In their latest venture, Curtis and Cornell tackle the question of identity and deconstruct it to a level young people can understand.To prompt her students' journeys of self-discovery, the Asian-American teacher/narrator starts by telling the story of her great- grandmother who "came from a far, distant place. She came on a boat with just this small case" filled with the things she loved best. "What would YOU take?" the teacher asks her class. Curtis does a fine job spanning the broad spectrum of America's children today (as does Cornell in her playful, full-of-details signature style). "My baby-tooth tin," says a blonde, white girl with orthodontic headgear. "Abuelo's beret, my ukulele, my St. Christopher medal to look out for me," says a grinning Latino boy. Most choices are to be expected--a Barbie doll, Nintendo DS--but some are perplexingly from the wrong generation: how many kids will get "my Groucho Marx glasses / Weird Al-signed CD"? Overall, kids will find Curtis' "to know yourself, you must know your roots" message resonant and will be scrambling to fill the pop-up suitcase at the back of the book with items that say to the world, "HI THERE, THIS IS ME!" (The library edition omits the problematic-for-circulation final pop-up flourish.) An excellent springboard for school-age kids to discover who they are and where they come from. (Picture book. 5-9)

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June 20, 2016
Frequent collaborators Curtis and Cornell ask kids to contemplate what they would bring if they had to move to another country. “How would you know/ in this case what to pack/ and that once you had left/ there’d be no coming back,” a teacher says to her students, who list what they would include in their suitcases. Curtis keeps the story current (but also dates it) with references to items like prized Katy Perry tickets and a Nintendo DS; while the meter is solid enough, the rhymes can be somewhat forced (“Great work, Elena,/ for the time that you took./ This suitcase is like/ your own history book”). Cornell’s cheery ink-and-watercolor images create a friendly, diverse cast of kids, and a pop-up suitcase invites readers to consider what objects best represent them. Ages 4–8.