Review - I Am Violet

I Am Violet
by Tania Duprey Stehlik
illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic
Date: 2020
Publisher: Second Story Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 18
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

People come in a rainbow of beautiful colors. A little girl looks around her and sees that some people are blue, some are green, some are red...the world is a rainbow and Violet herself is a wonderful mixture of her mom and dad. Her mom is red, her dad is blue, and the little girl proudly announces: "I am proud to be violet... I am proud to be me... I am Violet!" A book for all babies and toddlers to celebrate the skin they are in.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Oh, dear. This doesn't work at all. It's a perfect example of a mismatch between book and audience.

The book is extremely short, and we just find out that mom is red, dad is blue, and the girl is violet. The end. I didn't realize until after I read it and was checking out some of the other reviews that this is the simplified board-book version of Violet, which is likely intended for slightly older kids. And it might work there. Here, though? It doesn't. Babies and toddlers aren't going to understand the metaphor (heck, they're probably even too young to get anything out of the colour-mixing concept; paint is just paint at that age).

Even though I haven't read the longer picture book this is based on, I'd recommend checking that one out instead. Babies and toddlers aren't going to get much out of this 51-word (yes, I counted; that's how short this is) story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Story Press for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5