"I am a brother,
a son,
a nephew,
a favorite cousin,
a grandson.
I am a friend.
I am real."
I once read a quote from the incomparable Walter Dean Myers that read: We need diversity because kids who never see themselves in a book will eventually become kids we never see with a book. I immediately printed it on a card and tacked it to the bulletin board in front of my desk. I read that observation every single day. We are doing better, but there is a long way to go yet.
Books as wonderful as I Am Every Good Thing show that we are supporting Black writers and their amazing work. The team that celebrated Black children with Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (2017) return with another book that honors the boundless imagination and endless joy of a young Black boy.
This boy shows readers that he is full of confidence and energy. His first-person voice makes his story ring with truth and bravery. He tells the audience that he is a product of his ancestors' dreams for him, and that he is worthy of all those same things that every child in the world deserves.
"I am good to the core, like the center
of a cinnamon roll.
Yeah, that good." '
He shows the world around him that he is the same as other boys his age. He has the same hopes, feels the same pain, loves learning, and treats people with respect and kindness. Despite all this truth, he will face obstacles in our world. That sometimes makes him feel afraid of what people might call him, what they might think of him without knowing him at all. It is a sad truth.
Still, he says:
"I am brave. I am hope.
I am my ancestors' wildest dream.
I am worthy of success,
of respect, of safety, of kindness, of happiness."
Mr. Barnes uses remarkable, uplifting language to share this welcome and needed look at the experience of Black boys. His words are definitive and empowering. Mr. James provides exceptional images in textured oil paints of many young Black boys who deserve the same love, admration, and honor that all children do. They are, for certain, Every Good Thing. It is a beautiful book to read aloud in any K-5 classroom and beyond.
Dedicated by the author to Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, EJ Bradford, Jordan Edwards, Michael Brown, Jordan Davis and Julian Mallory, and by the artist to his son Gabriel, this book deserves a place in every school, family and public library.
I would like to end with another wise observation from the same interview with Walter Dean Myers quoted above -
Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in these books?
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