Hello there! I’m a happy educator today, and I cannot wait to share with you all again another great book review, and it is titled Becoming Vanessa. It was written and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. I had the pleasure of interviewing Vanessa a few weeks ago, and definitely check out her podcast episode with me on The Cultural Curriculum Chat.
I will have that link down below. Now to get started with this book. It is a coming-of-age book on the first day of school. Everybody has those jitters, especially the teachers, but we don’t wanna spill that kind of tea. Okay? So becoming Vanessa is her self-titled character, and she talks about getting ready for the first.
School, her mommy and daddy ask her, what are you gonna wear that special today? And as you can see, I got my little particular leper print cardigan on because we all have to enjoy our inner childlike energy. And what I love about Vanessa’s attention to detail. She’s got it down to the hair textures of her parents.
Even how things just come to life. Even the fashion, the feather boa that little Vanessa does. What I also enjoy in this book, it even has a mommy and a hair tie. Okay. It shows all walks of life that Vanessa brings to the pages. She even talks about her name and how long it takes to write it when everybody else is done with the day.
And you know, as a teacher, we all have those students that have those beautiful, unique, long names that take a while, but she talks about how she gets into her name. Feels in the beginning that her name isn’t that special, but her mom walks her through and tells her the true meaning of her name. You will just choke up with joy and see how this beautiful little girl takes that pride in herself.
And she sits a little taller, like I say, and talks about how her beautiful name has meaning and how she portrays herself and honors who she is just beautiful. So definitely check out this book. It’s one of my favorites. And just how colorful, bright, and childlike Vanessa has this in her book.
It’s very well done. As you can say, Vanessa is a beautiful person inside and out. And you are going to enjoy this book. I highly recommend this book, kindergarten to about third grade, for the beginning of the school year, but, Check it out now. In honor of Black History Month, she is one of the most well-known illustrators in our children’s books universe.
So definitely get this book Becoming Vanessa wherever books are sold. You can learn more about this fantastic author here: https://www.vanessabrantleynewton.com/
