You Are a Story

Speaking directly to readers, Raczka (The Poet of Piney Woods) explores human existence from multiple unifying angles. Second-person lines suggest commonality by way of physical similarities (“You are a living thing./ You breathe.// You eat./ You sleep”), familial bonds (“No matter who your family is,/ you deserve all the love you can get”), and animalian comparatives (“You are a member of the mammal/ family. You have bones. You have/ hair. You drink milk”). Quirkier descriptions follow—each person is a body of water, an astronaut sailing through space aboard Earth, and an information-soaking sponge—before a vertical spread shows a figure surrounded by scaffolding and construction equipment: “You are not a finished person. You are a work in progress.” The Howdeshells (I Am the Storm), a married team, give digital spreads a friendly feel, portraying figures with varied abilities and skin tones via textures that recall printmaking techniques. People flourish in varied ways, but this compendium contains affirmations that are broadly applicable to many—first and foremost, “You are the author of your life. Every day is a blank page waiting for you to fill it.” Ages 4–8. (Feb.)