From My Head to My Toes

Affirmations weave throughout activist and Olympian Raisman’s work about boundary setting and being in tune with one’s body—as a motif reads, “from my head to my toes.” Early lines celebrate self-love (“I am strong./ I am beautiful./ I am unique”) and caretaking (“I love my body,/ so I am kind to my body”), then move into specific appreciations for the way that a person’s body can communicate (“It tells me/ when I am hot or cold,/ and when I am sleepy/ or hurt or hungry”). Eventually, the refrain provides transition to a discussion of bodily autonomy and consent. Plain-spoken text prepares readers for moments when someone might “hug me or tickle me” without first asking permission, and then asserts every individual’s right to say no when people who “do not respect that my body is my own... touch me without my permission.” In kinetic action scenes, Jackson’s signature-style artwork features active youth of varied abilities, body types, and skin tones, among them the author, identifiable in an “Aly” tee. A note to adult readers addresses the author’s personal experience with abuse and offers resources. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)