Written with Alexandra Strick, co-founder of Inclusive Minds, You Can! sets out to celebrate the joy and empowerment that can be found in following your dreams and believing in yourself.

The words tell a simple list of the things ‘You can…’ do, such as be brave, talk about how you feel, make mistakes and learn from them, and could be read straight through from start to finish in less than 3 minutes. But this would defeat the purpose of the book – there is so much to interrogate and discuss on each page. The pictures bring another dimension, showing each child gradually developing from toddler to child to young adult and challenging themselves at each stage of the journey. The challenges gradually broaden and deepen to reflect the age of the characters, from the toddlers being encouraged to try new things and be brave, to the young adults refusing to be put in a box and being determined to reach their goals. The endpapers contribute to this sense of growth and progress with the front showing 14 babies (which one looks most like you?) and the end showing 14 adults engaged in various jobs (which job would you most like to have?).

This book would be great to share with a whole class, particularly during a unit on Ourselves, but would also make a brilliant resource to share with an individual child, such as the one in every class whose first response is ‘I can’t!”

Thoughtful, uplifting and empowering, ‘You Can!’ is a joy to explore.