Customer Reviews

You Are Special (Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition) (Max Lucado's Wemmicks)

5 star:		(199)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book shows how true freedom for us comes by not being enslaved to the opinions of others. Max Lucado tells the story to communicate to children (and most DEFINITELY to adults as well) that by taking time to experience and remember God's love for us, we can have a deep joy that isn't contingent upon whether people bestow praise (represented by gold stars) or insults (grey dots) upon us. This is a book that I think everyone should read every morning before we start our day, because this simple story illustrates a truth that is essential to our peace, yet so hard for us to keep ahold of. Thank you Max, for reminding us of our infinite and unchanging worth.

i really loved this book it has definite religous themes and i am not a religious person but thinking that someone was always there to help me made me feel really good i wanted to run out and call all of the people a know and tell them how much i love them! i have read this book to lots of small children and they loved it but it is also great for teenagers college students and adults. great messages, beautiful illustrations(some times i just go through and look at the pictures!), and a truly heart warming story highly suggested for everyone! thanks!

I'm of the firm belief that a good story is a good story, no matter how old you are! This beautiful picture book is Max Lucado at his best - he tells the story with a perfect economy of words and the illustrations are perfect.

The main character, Punchinello, lives in a world where the wooden people wear "stickers" which are Stars or Grey Dots, depending on what others think of you! Poor Punchinello tries hard to gain others' approval, but keeps missing out and keeps getting grey dots, which means that he is definitely looked down upon in this make-believe society of wooden people.

Finally, our friend meets a wooden girl who has no stickers! When people try to put stars on her, they don't stick! And the grey dots don't stick either! She explains to our main character that this is because she goes to visit Eli, the master woodcarver, who made them all. She doesn't card about the opinions of others. She suggests that Punchinello go visit Eli as well.

When Punchinello goes to visit Eli, he learns an important lesson about the specialness of each created person just because you belong to God! The scenes in Eli's workshop are especially touching.

My 17-year-old just read this book and LOVED it. We also watched the video and didn't think it was as good as the book.

Please check out my other reviews of Christian books and music!

I used to read this book to my campers when I was a counselor at a Christian summer camp. The message is that our creator, God, loves us for who we are - he made us who we are. Whenever we feel inadequate in this world, all we need to do is remember God's love for us. When we do that all those negative things that people see about us and even those that we have started to believe ourselves will disappear. This story is included in Lucado's book, The Book of Secrets. This excerpt from that book is enhanced by Martinez's wonderful illustrations.

Why 5 stars?: This book is wonderfully written and illustrated. The message is one that all children (and adults) need to remember. God is able to see past what others do. He looks not only at our surface, but what is inside. He made us the way we are for a reason and he loves us because we are all so different.

You are Special is one of our favorite children's books, and is a gift we have given to every pre-schooler we know. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was to find that the Boardbook version has been revised and it no longer uses the text of the original book. It is an inaccurate paraphrasing that removes much of the best parts of the original book. I would NOT recommend that anyone by the new boardbook version. Either buy a used copy of the old boardbook (that had the original text) or buy the regular book. This book is so good that even if the child damages it after 1 reading you will have gotten your money's worth.

Until my sister told me of this book, I would never have even given it a second look. Max Lucado is not my favorite author by any stretch of the imagination, but this one goes above and beyond any of those deep instructional books he and others have sent out to the world. It's simple, and the story goes right to the heart of the reader. It's definitely a great purchase for yourself or as a gift for others.

The story is about a land where beautiful people receive stars, and those not-so-beautiful people receive spots. The Stars naturally all hang out together. The Spots don't really have a group - like us they tend to feel scorned and lonely after awhile. This story is about Punchinello, a small lad with more spots than most, who just wants to be liked. He learns of the Woodcarver who made them all, and gets the courage to visit . . . and begins to just sit and talk like a friend with his maker.

My sis gave it to me as a gift - she said I was one of those strange people that loved kids' stories (and I hope I always will!), but would still get the real meaning behind it. Well, I did. I hope you'll take the chance to read it, and see just what a great story it is, too.

There aren't many books that deliver a positive message to children - I love you no matter what, just because you're you, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks! It is never too early to teach this message to our children. If they do not hear positive and reinforcing words from their parents they will hear negative and degrading words from others. I took this book to work to show my coworkers after it was given to my daughter, and my supervisor said, with tears in her eyes, "any little girl who grows up hearing that message is going to do all right in this world." Buy this book for your child, your grandchild, read it to your Sunday School class, and often. The illustrations are also beautiful!

Wemmicks, wooden people built by Eli, spend their days awarding stars and dots based on looks and abilities. The better you are, the more stars you receive. The more clumsy, the more chipped paint, the more gray dots. Punchinello feels doomed to more of the same until he meets a girl to whom no stars or dots will stick. I taught a couple special needs students whose inabilities made them feel conspicuous. This book caught their attention, and they began to discover how much they truly could do.

I've read Max Lucado's book a number of times but it wasn't until just recently that I was able to fully comprehend it's powerful message. Too many times I forget that my identity doesn't lie in who I am or what I do or even what I've done. My identity lies in the fact that I am a beloved child of God. What He thinks of me should be all that matters. Instead of letting others decide whether I receive stars or dots, I should be visiting with my Maker daily and living as His beloved.

I feel so lucky that I had the chance to read this book. I don't have kids and seldom think of looking at children's books. But a mom friend showed it to me and we both cried as we read it together. It's a book for children of all ages. The text and illustrations just shine with love, and everybody needs to hear the messages of self-acceptance and self-esteem in this book. I'm buying copies of it for Xmas gifts for my favorite aunt, my favorite child friend, and my therapist.