You Are Special

By: Maz Lucado

Illustrations: Sergio Martinez

Published by: Crossway Books

Ages: 5-9

Pages: 31

The Wemmicks all lived in a small village, they were all carved by a woodworker names Eli. Each Wemmick was different in shape and size. Everyday they gave each other stickers, the pretty and talented got stars but the ugly and clumbsy ones got dots. Stars made the wemmicks feel good, but the dots made them feel sad. Punchinello was a wemmick that always got dots, he would say something silly, or fall in a puddle-and he got a dot. He was covered in dots, and no stars. This made him so sad! One day he met another Wemmick who had NO STICKERS! She said that all of her stickers just fell off. Punchinello wanted to be like this, so he went to see Eli, the woodworker. Eli even knew his name! Punchinello expressed his concerns that he wasn't as good as the other Wemmicks. But Eli reassured him he was, and that he loved Punchinello just the way he is. He told Punchinello that the stickers wouldn't stick if he stopped caring about what other people said about him. And when Punchinello began to feel he was special, his stickers began to fall to the ground.

Who would I recommend this to? Any child or adult who needs a " pick me up" story!

Possible conflicts/problems? People could relate this story to religion. "everyone is equal in God's eyes." Parents might not want their child to hear or read this story because of this.

My reaction: This is one of my childhood favorites, and the copy in the library was well worn out, so it must be read alot, which is a good sign. I love the message that this book portays. GREAT BOOK! 5 stars *****