Weird and Wonderful You

Rhythmic verse and frolicsome artwork encourage readers to “stay weird,/ stay wild,/ stay wonderful... stay you” in this irrepressibly upbeat book. Avant-garde’s first-person-plural lines build from proclamations (“We are the weird.// The wonderfully weird, that is”) that offer a fortifying mixture of cheering words and examples (“I peel my bananas from the/ bottom up and sometimes read/ hanging upside down”). Yangni’s scribbly mixed-media collages offer a vivacious energy that’s fully on display in scenes of figures, depicted with varied abilities and skin tones, joyously engaging in active and creative pursuits: confetti shoots from the instruments of a brass ensemble, a briefcase-toting figure rides a unicycle, and a group of adults and children together make a dragon-like puppet for a parade. Meanwhile, confident assertions insistently paint authenticity as something to be celebrated: “We are world changers!/You and me?/Together, our differences make/ a perfect melody.” Sprinkled throughout, quotes from figures including Maya Angelou, Beyoncé, Jon Bon Jovi, and Dolly Parton reinforce the book’s message. Ages 3–7. (July)