Me, Me, Me

July 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-Three young girls are preparing for a school talent show. Annie suggests that they create an all-girl singing group. Lillemor and Lilianne love the idea-that is, until Annie starts to monopolize all of the decisions for the group. This book adeptly depicts characters' frustration through illustration. As Annie increases her dominance over the girls, her friends go from perplexed to annoyed. The warm-toned pastel palette gives the images an inviting look and feel. Dunklee employs colored word bubbles to distinguish dialogue from narrator commentary. The word bubbles shift to a white color against vibrant backgrounds. Different fonts used in word bubbles help emphasize phrases that are particularly important to the characters. VERDICT This title will resonate with kids and encourage them to embrace teamwork and inclusiveness in their daily lives. A solid addition.-Deanna Smith, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2017
Bespectacled, brown-skinned English-speaker Annie, white Swede Lillemor, and dark-complected Francophone Lilianne are back again as Dunklee and Smith team up in this follow-up to Me Too! (2015). This time around the multilingual trio sets out to conquer the music world, or at least the school talent show, as an all-girl vocal trio. Things seem to be off to a good start when Lillemor and Lilianne quickly agree on a song to perform for the show, but Annie forcefully asserts her own idea that they make up their own song. In fact, Annie vetoes all her friends' opinions, "Because this whole thing was my idea." The trio quickly dissolves as Annie makes it all about "me, me, me," leaving her friends behind to pursue a solo act. Annie learns the hard way what it's like to not have her opinion listened to, while Lillemore and Lilianne discover their duo is lacking an important piece. Ready to truly work as a team, the girls reunite just in time to perform in the school talent show. Themes of empathy, diversity and cooperation abound. Bright, digitally rendered illustrations are sure to appeal to young audiences, while the character-development lesson is sure to appeal to many adults. A pleasing morality tale on the importance of friendship and teamwork. (Picture book. 3-7)

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January 1, 2018
Multilingual best friends Annie, Lillemor, and Lilianne decide to enter the school talent show as a singing group. But Annie tests their friendship when she insists on making all the decisions ("because this whole thing was my idea"). Dunklee's realistic story about bossiness, compromise, and teamwork features a mix of simple narration and speech bubbles set against Smith's expressive, brightly colored digital art.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)