*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Blurb: Have you ever looked at someone and thought they looked like another person, an animal, or your favorite cartoon character?
Yes?
Well, I invite you to take this journey along with Samara as she explores her vivid imagination in this tale of My Cartoon Imagination at School.
Her mother was the first person to give her the idea of looking at the world around her in a more vivid and imaginative way. Come and take this adventure with Samara! Join her in this fun-filled expression of her imagination as it comes alive in this creative and poetic story!
My Cartoon Imagination at School is a cute picture book aimed at young readers (Minishine is 7 and was able to read most of the words unaided).
The story follows Samara as she finds a fun way to tackle her nerves about speaking in front of an audience… imagining that everyone she meets is a cartoon animal!
This is such a lovely idea and Minishine really enjoyed it. She got fully on board with the concept and immediately began assigning animal identities to all her family and friends too! Mr Shine got to be a lion, because he has ‘a hairy face and likes to lie around a lot’; Babybows is a cheeky little monkey; I am a panda, because I am ‘fat and clumsy but still lovely’ (I’m pretty happy with that to be honest!), and Minishine assigned herself the same animal that Samara sees herself as at the end of the book: read it to find out!
The idea of picturing your audience as animals is a really good one and Minishine fully intends to try to implement it herself, as she too suffers from anxiety when it comes to presenting her work to the rest of the class.
The book is written in rhyming style, and the illustrations are gorgeous: bright, clear and colourful, with a touch of humour about them. I felt that some of the rhymes felt a little bit forced, but Minishine hadn’t even noticed the rhyming pattern at all because she was so engrossed in the animals!
I’d recommend this story to anyone with a 5-8 year old who is nervous about standing up and speaking in public. It’s a nice one to read together and discuss, and great fun to apply to the people in your own lives!
I was so afraid, and my heart started to sink
as I started to wonder what my classmates might think!So I went to talk to my mother,
and guess what she said?
“Imagine them as friendly cartoon animals in
your head!”– Sabrina D. Clayton, My Cartoon Imagination at School
Find more from Sabrina D. Clayton at her website here, or follow her on Twitter and Goodreads.
My Cartoon Imagination at School is available on Amazon right now!
Bookshine And Readbows 