Ipsita Paul, author of the fantastic new children's book, I'm Awesome Because (Friesen Press), knows about "mixed." No, not mixed up, perfectly mixed in a gorgeous array of cultural heritages—she comes from a Spanish, Irish, Jamaican, and West Indian background and was adopted by an East Indian family. She prefers the term "mixed" versus "biracial," because "biracial" just doesn't adequately cover the rainbow of cultures that many mixed families reflect.
I'm Awesome Because is Ipsita's first book. It's a celebration of multiracial families that promotes an uplifting message of self-esteem in all children. Ipsita's own "mixie," as she calls her daughter (and son), was told one day she couldn't play pretend with some friends because she didn't look like the character the girls were pretending to be. Ipsita looked for books to show her daughter that there were indeed characters that resembled her, but had a hard time finding any, so she wrote her own! How awesome is that?
With colourful artwork accurately portraying the hair texture and some of the facial features of some mixed-race kids and adults, I'm Awesome Because was a hit in my home. My daughter kept pointing out that the kids in the story looked like her, while the dad in the story looked a bit like her own daddy. Children of mixed heritage or trans-racial adoption often feel self-conscious because they don't look like either of their parents, or feel like they're "different" in a negative way because the members of their family don't all "match" one another. A book like this provides an opportunity for these children—and others who aren't mixed or weren't adopted—to see themselves reflected in a book and feel like they are not the only ones. It also helps the society and other children to accept that people in a family don't all have to match to still be a family.
There's also a great bonus—the last page of the book asks the reader(s) to make their own list of what is awesome about themselves and their family. Thought-provoking AND confidence-building—what's not to love?
I'm Awesome Because is a great way to educate kids from ANY type of family about what "mixed" means, to help embrace diversity as a family value, and, most importantly, to promote a sense of self-worth in children.
YummyMummyClub.ca is thrilled to be giving away a signed copy of I'm Awesome Because as an awesome addition to your child's library. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me why you want your child to read it. You have until September 22, 2014 to enter. You must be a YMC member, and please be sure you've registered your email address in our commenting system so we can contact you if you win.
Yummy Rules and Regs: You must be a YummyMummyClub.ca member to win. Click to sign up! It's free and filled with perks. One comment per member. Entries accepted until September 22, 2014. Contest open to Canadian residents (excluding Quebec). Winners will be picked using www.random.org. See full contest rules.
Hi! Thanks for reading this post. You may also want to check out this post about an important lesson my daughter taught me, or this post about some additional books that are great for kids.
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