Customer Reviews

I Am I (Neal Porter Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think this is a fantastic book and have yet to find a better book to spark discussion with children about owning your emotions. The illustrations goregrously portray how simple words can be destructive, and also healing.

The book "I Am I" by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is a wonderful book for young readers everywhere. This is a great book to buy and read to your toddlers. They would simply love it.
There are many bright colors. The boy on the cover page has colorful hair that is yellow and blue. It is a heart-warming story. This is because the two little kids learn how to share and that helps them in life. It helps you make friends! This is a very easy book to read so almost anyone can read it. The vocabulary is very simple. An example sentence from the book to show this is, "I am I king of all the sea."
Anybody could read it, such as kindergarten and up. The colors are beautiful and will catch the eye of many young toddlers. It teaches a very good lesson in sharing and not to fight. If you want to teach your own children how to read, buy it!

My 6 year old daughter finds "I AM I" fascinating and has asked to read it several times. Its elegant, visually rich illustrations are delightfully clever and gently thought provoking. It's also beautiful.

I work in a children's library and have rarely found a book more bizarre than this one. I can see no way that a toddler or even a preschooler could begin to comprehend the illustrations. Additionally, I was very disturbed by the words, "I HATE YOU, HATE YOU, HATE YOU which are exchanged by the two boys. A very disappointing addition by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.

This fascinating book by an award winning Irish author and illustrator is a story that works on multiple levels. It is a colorful short story of two "tribal" boys in a dry wilderness having a game of king of the hill, and it is a powerful demonstration of how words can hurt...or heal. It has also on a deeper level a clear anti-war/anti-violence message.
Words in this book have a life of their own and literally transform, in multi panel form, almost like animation, to become the visual agent of change. Words shape themselves as birds, they tangle and twist into dividing barbed wire, they clot together and dam a river, causing a flood, and they form into a destructive dragon and breath fire. And ultimately, they form into redemptive rain that brings beautiful poppies.
This is a book that can be enjoyed for it's sheer exuberence and artistry, or treasured for it's deeper message of respect and peace. One need not come from a land of sectarian violence such as Ireland to appreciate it's thoughtful lasting impression. Buy it!