You Might Be Special!

Everyone thinks they are special. And every person IS special! No two people are alike. That’s the beauty of humanity. This theme is communicated to young children in a unique way – through a quiz! Just as adults like to take personality quizzes to find out which of 16 personality types they fit within and how compatible this makes them with the one they are dating, children enjoy quizzes focused around themselves. This lighthearted series of questions leads to the answering of one central question: are you special?

This quiz appeals to the imagination of young children who have not yet differentiated between fantasy and reality. Each two-page pairing asks three questions that most children will be able to answer “yes” to. The fourth question, however, will have to be answered “no” because it specifically describes something unique to a fantastical creature - a unicorn, a dragon, a fairy, a Sasquatch, a mermaid and a werewolf.

This story is told from the perspective of a young school girl who is pictured in a class picture at the beginning of the story. It follows the girl who is engaged in regular, everyday events while the three questions with the answer “yes” are asked. When the fourth question is asked and the reader must answer “no”, the reader is told that they must not then be one of the zany animals. The fictional animal then enters the space where the girl is – in her room painting, or on the soccer field in the middle of a game – and the girl reacts to the creature.

The illustrations are my favorite part of this book – wow! They are digitally rendered and spectacular! They show realistically “normal” people of many ethnic groups that could be any school children of today. The mythical beings are breathtaking – especially the dragon that takes up the whole inside of the goalie net and then some! (I’ve always been partial to dragons!)

The language used in the book is age appropriate – simple, easy to understand questions. The tone of the book is quizzical and fanciful. By the end of the book, the theme is summarized with all the mythical animals cavorting around in the girl’s backyard:

You were right!

You ARE different from everyone else.

There IS no one quite like you.

You’re one of a kind!

You’re SPECIAL! Because you’re…

YOU!

You Might Be Special is a positive book that will be a guaranteed hit with young children!