Fridays with Irene: I Want Your Moo

I Want Your Moo:
A Story for Children About Self-Esteem
By Marcella Bakur Weiner and Jill Neimark
Illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi
Magination Press, 2010

This is a great book about a very important, and sometimes difficult, topic for kids. It talks about the importance of developing self-esteem from a very early age in kids.

Self-esteem is a topic that isn’t usually talked about with young kids. But the authors present this difficult topic in a fun and refreshing way, that both young and older kids will be able to appreciate and learn the importance of developing self-esteem.

The book has several themes. These are as follows:

 We are all okay just as we are;
 We don’t need to be anything that we’re not;
 We don’t need to sound different in order to accepted;
 We don’t have to look different than we are;
 We are unique and great just as we are.

The overall message for kids is that they are meant to be EXACTLY who they are right this very moment. What a great message for kids!

In addition, there are two sidebars in the book. The first is about how kids can most successfully develop self-esteem, and how caregivers and educators can help them do just that.

The second sidebar discussed some of the reasons why kids have low self-esteem. It also provides some practical tips for parents to guide their children toward self-acceptance and developing positive self-esteem.

Rating: 4 out of 5 roses
Reviewed by Irene S. Roth
www.adolescentgirlsblog.wordpress.com

Ways that Educators and teachers can use this book in the classroom

Divide the class into groups of three to five and ask them to discuss the following questions:

1. What is self-esteem?
2. Why is it important to develop self-esteem?
3. How would you rate your self-esteem?
4. Do you have a good idea of whether you have healthy self-esteem?
5. Does your self-esteem fluctuate, depending on the situation you’re in?

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Irene S. Roth is a freelance writer for teens, and tweens. She has published over 150 Ezine articles on different topics that are relevant to self-esteem and self-confidence for adolescent girls. She has also reviewed over 300 books, written dozens of articles for teens and tweens, and has a blog devoted to adolescent girls at http://adolescentgirlsblog.wordpress.com and a blog devoted to different aspects of writing at http://irenesroth.wordpress.com.

She reviews books for Blogcritics, SimplyCharly, The Muse, Stories for Children, Voice in the Dark, Booksneeze, and Tyndale Publishers. She also is a review editor for Humane Medicine International, a Medical Journal for Doctors in Canada and the U.S. Irene also writes consistently for the Voices in the Dark, an Ezine magazine, and the Beacon Herald.