I loved reading this story, and my 8-year-old cousin was fascinated by it. The book starts out with a teacher talking to her class about where her ancestors are from and how they had to choose what they would pack to bring on their journey to America. She explains that her great grandmother was none too happy about leaving everything she owned behind. The teacher then asks the students what they would pack in their suitcase if they were traveling to a new place and had to leave their old home behind. Several of the pages contain various students in the class and the items they would chose to take: one student would take his pet rat, another would take her Katy Perry concert ticket, one would make sure she had her Barbie, while another would take their grandfather’s glasses.
The story goes on to tell students how scary it is to go to new place but how exciting it is to meet new people and do new things. The teacher tells the students how each of the items they chose are like their own history book in a way because it tells a little bit about them and their past.
This was a great book to teach children how important it is to know where you come from and about your ancestors. The book contains a page with ancestors of the children in the class including families of all different races.
This book gets kids thinking about their ancestors and what they would bring if they had to pack up and move to a foreign land. It ends with a pop-up suitcase that actually opens for the reader to write down exactly what they would pack. The illustrations are very cute and reminded me of water colors. This would be a great read for children ages four and up.
This Is Me
By Jaime Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
Available on workman.com for $ 16.95; on Amazon for $12.19 for the hardcover and $9.99 for the kindle e-book.
Meet the Reviewer!
Bianca is a first-time mom to son Jeremy and works full-time, on top of being a full-time mom and college student. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family, working out and baking.
