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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
KAMARA loves being SUPER STRONG - it makes her feel FIZZY and ZAPPY!
But negative words from her classmates make her doubt herself. With sports day looming, will Kamara find the confidence to be STRONG inside and out?
Kamara is strong. She loves giving friends piggybacks, swimming and climbing trees but most of all she loves to run because she’s super fast. Her Auntie Lynda says that her strength is her super power and she should have been known as Superbaby. The only person at school who can beat Kamara is Benji, who always wins the Big Race at the school sports day, but Kamara is sure she can beat him this year.
But when her friends and classmates say that she’s showing off and seem fed up with her winning races all the time, she begins to question herself. Maybe she is a show off and shouldn’t try so hard to win?
Can Kamara’s Auntie Lynda help convince her to find her confidence again in time for the Big Race?
Kelechi Okafor and Michaela Dias-Hayes’s picture book combines the themes of retaining your confidence when you’re being criticised and celebrating the different kinds of strength that people have and what makes you special into an inspiring, beautifully illustrated story. I particularly liked the list of strong people at the end of the book, which is a good way of having a follow-up conversation with your young reader about the book’s themes.
Kamara is a really fun protagonist - a gifted and natural athlete who loves nothing more than running around and climbing things. I enjoyed how Okafor and Dias-Hayes centres Kamara in her family (including her community leader mum and cool Auntie Lynda) - Dias-Hayes’s illustrations (which are excellent) work particularly well here, showing their closeness and bringing layers to the text.
In a foreword to the story, Okafor says that Kamara is based on herself and the story is inspired by the way she was shamed for being good at running. That really comes through in this story, you do very much feel for Kamara and her confusion and guilt when she wonders if she is showing off and questioning whether she should put as much effort as she usually does into winning.
The story itself works very well, finishing with a strong message. Okafor and Dias-Hayes end it with a list of people who have demonstrated strength in different areas (including music, athletics and politics). I think that’s clever because it ties in with the idea of people having different types of strength and achievement and encourages more discussion.
I don’t know if Okafor and Dias-Hayes are planning to develop this into a series, but I think there’s a lot of scope to read more about Kamara, her friends and her family and I would definitely be interesting in checking out more books from both of them.
The Verdict:
Kelechi Okafor and Michaela Dias-Hayes’s picture book combines the themes of retaining your confidence when you’re being criticised and celebrating the different kinds of strength that people have and what makes you special into an inspiring, beautifully illustrated story. I particularly liked the list of strong people at the end of the book, which is a good way of having a follow-up conversation with your young reader about the book’s themes.
STRONG LIKE ME was released in the United Kingdom on 1st February 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
But negative words from her classmates make her doubt herself. With sports day looming, will Kamara find the confidence to be STRONG inside and out?
Kamara is strong. She loves giving friends piggybacks, swimming and climbing trees but most of all she loves to run because she’s super fast. Her Auntie Lynda says that her strength is her super power and she should have been known as Superbaby. The only person at school who can beat Kamara is Benji, who always wins the Big Race at the school sports day, but Kamara is sure she can beat him this year.
But when her friends and classmates say that she’s showing off and seem fed up with her winning races all the time, she begins to question herself. Maybe she is a show off and shouldn’t try so hard to win?
Can Kamara’s Auntie Lynda help convince her to find her confidence again in time for the Big Race?
Kelechi Okafor and Michaela Dias-Hayes’s picture book combines the themes of retaining your confidence when you’re being criticised and celebrating the different kinds of strength that people have and what makes you special into an inspiring, beautifully illustrated story. I particularly liked the list of strong people at the end of the book, which is a good way of having a follow-up conversation with your young reader about the book’s themes.
Kamara is a really fun protagonist - a gifted and natural athlete who loves nothing more than running around and climbing things. I enjoyed how Okafor and Dias-Hayes centres Kamara in her family (including her community leader mum and cool Auntie Lynda) - Dias-Hayes’s illustrations (which are excellent) work particularly well here, showing their closeness and bringing layers to the text.
In a foreword to the story, Okafor says that Kamara is based on herself and the story is inspired by the way she was shamed for being good at running. That really comes through in this story, you do very much feel for Kamara and her confusion and guilt when she wonders if she is showing off and questioning whether she should put as much effort as she usually does into winning.
The story itself works very well, finishing with a strong message. Okafor and Dias-Hayes end it with a list of people who have demonstrated strength in different areas (including music, athletics and politics). I think that’s clever because it ties in with the idea of people having different types of strength and achievement and encourages more discussion.
I don’t know if Okafor and Dias-Hayes are planning to develop this into a series, but I think there’s a lot of scope to read more about Kamara, her friends and her family and I would definitely be interesting in checking out more books from both of them.
The Verdict:
Kelechi Okafor and Michaela Dias-Hayes’s picture book combines the themes of retaining your confidence when you’re being criticised and celebrating the different kinds of strength that people have and what makes you special into an inspiring, beautifully illustrated story. I particularly liked the list of strong people at the end of the book, which is a good way of having a follow-up conversation with your young reader about the book’s themes.
STRONG LIKE ME was released in the United Kingdom on 1st February 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
