LUCKY ME

A picture book that celebrates gratitude in the everyday and across cultures.

An unnamed cover girl joins her family and diverse friends in appreciation of all the many things that brighten their days. From curious questions and warm pancakes to the wonders of nature and imagination, each moment of praise culminates in words of thanks from around the world. Urdu, Tagalog, Somali, Cree, and other languages too infrequently featured in North American children’s literature make appearances here, while bright watercolor-and-pencil illustrations add vibrancy and kinetic energy to each spread. The intention is worthy, but the execution is less than inclusive, as the words of gratitude are all represented only in anglicized, Latin-alphabet spellings rather than in their own alphabets or scripts, where appropriate. Each word or phrase is followed by imperfect parenthetical pronunciation guides lacking any accent or emphasis markings. As much as one might wish to share this multicultural story of gratitude as a read-aloud, the poor pronunciation guides make it one to skip.

Laudable premise with poor execution