Where Are You: A Child's Book About Loss

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Her unembellished prose is rich in conversations that are at once plaintive and wry, soul-baring and deflective. In addition, there are Rooney's now-famous sex scenes, among the most lushly moving you'll find in contemporary literary fiction. As I read Where are you From by Yamile Saied Mendez, it exceeded my expectations and has become a WOW book and one of my favorite books in the contemporary realistic fiction genre. It allows readers to feel the raw emotions of what a person has to go through after being questioned about where they are from just because they look different and how they begin to question their identity. The competition is open to entrants from the UK only. The winner will be chosen at random after the competition closes – but see the full t&cs below. Terms and Conditions of Giveaway

Disclaimer: I received thisWonderbly “Where Are You?” Book forthe purposes of this review. But all thoughts and opinions are my own. When a girl is asked where she’s from—where she’s really from—none of her answers seems to be the right one. This charmingly illustrated, thoughtfully written picture book offers a gentle wayfor the youngest readers to explore the complexities of identity. The story in Where Are You From? expands the idea of "origins" beyond a physical location to include the people, the natural world, and the history of a place and culture we are from. Most kids will relate to feeling left out, as well as finding comfort with a loving relative. The story encourages self-awareness, empathy, and family relationships.

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Interwoven with their story is that of Eileen Lydon, a hyper-intellectual, ridiculously low-paid editorial assistant at a Dublin literary journal where she spends her days inserting missing periods between W. H. Auden's initials. Smarting from a painful breakup, she seeks solace in the company of her oldest friend, Simon Costigan, a parliamentary assistant who, over the years, has casually dated a series of much younger women. Simon has been a light in her often-unhappy life since early childhood — and she's loath to risk losing his devoted friendship for a serious relationship that might go wrong. In this book, a girl repeatedly gets asked the question, "Where are you From." Although she answers, her peers, teachers, and her friend's parents continue to ask. She begins to question her identity and leans on her Abuelo for an answer. Throughout the book, Abuelo reassures her by explaining how her beauty comes from her family and the places they came from. This giveaway is limited to UK entrants aged 18 or over. If you enter from out of the UK, your entry will be deleted. I chose the ‘Where Are You?’ book as I Ioved the central concept of a child discovering that they can be whoever they want to be when they get older. And it is easy to personalise a book to your own child.

Read on as you have a chance of winning a personalised book for yourself or your favourite little one! Sally Rooney's third, exceptionally deft novel in five years takes its title from a line from a poem by Friedrich Schiller, which Schubert set to music in 1819. "Beautiful world, where are you?" is a question her two main female characters, best friends from college now on the cusp of 30, grapple with repeatedly in their struggles to figure out how they should live and find meaning in a troubled world that has become increasingly unviable on multiple levels — ecologically, economically, ethically and emotionally. Lyrical language and luminous illustrations. An ideal vehicle for readers to ponder and discuss their own identities." — Kirkus (starred review) This resonant and award-winning picture book tells the story of one girl who constantly gets asked a simple question that doesn’t have a simple answer. A great conversation starter in the home or classroom—a book to share, in the spirit of I Am Enough by Grace Byers and Keturah A. Bobo.When classmates and acquaintances persistently ask her where she is from, refusing to accept her answer that she is from here, a young girl turns to her Abuelo (grandfather) for answers in this lovely new picture-book from author Yamile Saied Méndez and illustrator Jaime Kim. His poetic answers allude to the young girl's Argentine and (possible) Puerto Rican heritage, but when she persists in her question, he replies that she is from his heart, and from the heart of all her ancestors... You may not be a stranger to Wonderbly. They produce a large range of personalised books for children of all ages. All of their books make your child the star of the story. Which is a great way to inspire self belief, and promote a love of reading. A picture-book debut from Méndez, Where Are You From? highlights the unfortunate fact that some American citizens face rather insensitive questions about their heritage, questions that imply that somehow they (the ones being questioned) are less American than others. I appreciated the wisdom of Abuelo's replies, but I also appreciated the fact that the young girl here continues to question, in the face of those replies. Curiosity is natural, and much like her own interrogators, the girl wants definite answers. I'm not sure that parallel was one the author intended to highlight, but I thought it was interesting nevertheless. It's clear from various references - mention of the pampas and the condor in the text, a memorial to the May Revolution in the artwork - that the girl is part Argentine. Given that Méndez is married to a Puerto Rican, I would assume that the references here to a Caribbean island indicate that the girl is also of that heritage. This makes me think that perhaps the girl is one of the author's own children, and that perhaps this story reflects an experience she had?

SANDS were able to support us in travelling through this unbearable minefield of grief and specifically George’s childhood loss of a sibling, together, as a family. Unsure about how to reply, she turns to her loving abuelo for help. He doesn’t give her the response she expects. She gets an even better one. Where are you from? This is a question many of our multicultural children are asked everyday. This is a question that sometimes makes one feel as if you don't belong here or there. In the book, a little girl is constantly asked this question. When she presents it to her abuelo, he enlightens her with a plethora of scenarios and situations that encompass where she is from. Most importantly, the girl learns that she is from the heart of those before her, and that the answer to this question is not a one word response, yet a colorful celebration of life. This book was recommended to me by my aunt, who like the author, is from Argentina. She said that it would be a nice book to read my daughter who is growing up multicultural and will most likely have to attempt to answer this question of "where she is from" at one time or another. Since I'm Argentine and her mother is Mexican, my daughter, like many children around the world, need to understand that there are many layers to our identity and that the cultures and spirits of our ancestors live in us through our DNA but also from the experiences that came before. One of my favourite details when choosing the personalisation in the book was the chance to write a short dedication at the start to my little girl. Although Wonderbly do provide some lovely inspiring words, you can edit these to make it so much more fitting for your own child. Which is such a lovely touch.

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Yamile Saied Mendez did an excellent job of telling the story not only with words but with the usage of images. The images allowed me as a reader to feel for the story and empathize with those who are going through a constant battle and struggling to find themselves. The pictures told their own story but also didn't take away from the words. Her use of writing craft was also one of the reasons why I loved this book so much as she had Abuelo compare their beauty with nature, which could allow readers to relate as well. With social tone-deafness, Alice complains to her struggling best friend about the intrusiveness of success. "I can't believe I have to tolerate these things—having articles written about me, and seeing my photograph on the internet, and reading comments about myself." The attention, she writes, "has made me loathe myself to an almost unendurable degree." The books themselves have themes and adventures centred around friendship and kindness. And they help your child learn important social skills whilst stimulating their imaginations. You’re from hurricanes and dark storms, and a tiny singing frog that calls the island people home when the sun goes to sleep....

What elevates her work is ... her uncanny ability to entrance us by capturing the emotional risks, power plays, miscommunications, ups and downs, hard work, and mixed feelings that accompany so much of our undertakings.Although the book begins as a gentle riposte to narrow cultural and ethnic categorizations, its conclusion reaches out to all readers, evoking both heritage and the human family." — Publishers Weekly Elizabeth was delighted when she saw her name on the cover of. And she recognised herself in the avatar straight away. In several scenarios, a little girl finds it difficult to answer the probing question "where are you from?" especially since it makes her feel like she doesn't belong. Asking the man that knows it all, Abuelo provides a multifaceted answer, drawing from various natural settings that spread across South America--especially Argentina--and the people that settled them. The girl, mirroring the insistence of her friends, asks for a more straight-forward answer--an actual location--and Abuelo points to his heart.