Review - Selfie

Selfie
by Sandy Horsley
Date: 2020
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Click! Click! Click! Sylvie the Squirrel is obsessed with selfies. However, as she's clicking away, Sylvie is missing out on the fun right in front of her. When her friends save her from a scary situation, Sylvie realizes what's really important and it's not taking selfies. Social media starts at an early age, and debut author/illustrator Sandy Horsley brings that issue to the forefront in this timely picture book. Selfies are fun, but nothing is more fun than being a good friend and living in the moment.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

That is one selfie-obsessed squirrel!

I understand the point this book is trying to make, but I'm kind of disturbed that it even needs to exist for the age group in question. Are kids who are young enough to read a book about talking squirrels old enough to be posting pictures of themselves online without parental guidance? There's a weird mismatch here between what Sylvie's doing with her phone (she runs her own Instagram account, and spells well enough to include decipherable hashtags on all her photos) and the rest of her friends (who are playing on playground equipment in the manner of preschoolers).

The book is kind of preachy, but again, I question whether it needs to be. It seems like adults would be the ones who really need this (especially if they're so busy posting selfies that they don't know what their kids are doing with their phones).

I like the hashtags that are used cleverly throughout (especially when the animals go on their quest to find their friend). But I don't like the normalizing of frantic selfie-taking for this age group. Yes, Sylvie realizes the error of her ways, but in real life, it's not that simple. Kids are getting addicted to their devices at younger and younger ages, and without a parent to take away the phone and say, "Go outside and play!" I kind of doubt that most kids would decide to do so on their own after reading a picture book.

If you can even get them to put down the phone long enough to read a book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone Editions for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.67 out of 5