I See Me : Me Veo

I love bilingual books and definitely believe libraries need more. Learning other languages and respecting other cultures helps everyone, not just the people who are part of a culture that isn't in the majority. How can you really know yourself if you haven't been exposed to anything outside your way of thinking?
The book follows a kid who wants to see himself represented in books. Research shows this is important, and kids are more likely to realize that they can achieve anything if they see themselves accomplishing things in books.
As a bilingual book, the blocks of text were uncomfortably big instead of being broken into sentences. The pictures were adorable.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Good children’s book! The book speaks to the importance of diversity and inclusion but also to recognize and stand up for oneself.
Thank you Netgally for gifting this book.

I See Me: Me Veo - A Bilingual Journey of Self-Discovery and Diversity
by Krystaelynne Sanders Diggs
This book is a bilingual book showing not only a love of books but of diversity. The book shows how a young child can relate to his or her world through books. That requesting representation in your local library is not only a necessity it is a duty. Libraries have limited budgets, so be patient but requesting a book you are interested may surprise you. Not only can you use inter library loans to get books from other connected libraries, but if more people ask, request, and write letters libraries will full fill this request. These request may also find ways to be communicated to publishers, and authors. There are books about many cultures, and people all over the world. Its just takes time to find them.

I cannot wait to read this book with my preschool class. It wonderfully addresses the need for diversity in children’s books in an easy to understand way. The Spanish translation is great too, as I have some kids in my class who speak Spanish! The artwork may be my favorite part. It is vibrant and joyful. I look forward to purchasing a physical copy.

This is such a fun children’s book that promotes reading and inclusivity! I love bilingual books and want more out in the world! I wish I had read more when I was little and, just like in this book, the more that are available, the more they get read! Learning to respect other cultures as children is a wonderful way to bring up the next generation. Plus the happy artwork was fun to look at!

I really enjoyed this story adn teh convesation that it would bring to the classroom. The first being inclusion and representation, but the second is what our ability to bring change and make a difference. Beautiful illustrations.

I See Me: Me Veo is a bilingual children's book which follows a young boy as he searches for characters who look like him in books. This book aims to highlight the importance of representation in children's books and the ways in which we can make a wider, more diverse range of books accessible.

I loved the message behind this book and thought the storyline was really engaging. The illustrations were the big stand out for me as they were all absolutely stunning. I also think this could be a great resource for anyone learning Spanish. As someone who learnt Spanish in school but has since forgotten a lot of it, I found this really accessible and I thought it was great being able to compare the Spanish to the English translation.

Overall, I think this is a really important for book for children to read and I think they would enjoy it as well due to the beautiful illustrations!

Loved the book and drawing! I love this book not only because of the representation but also because of the beautiful story of trying to find a good representation and reaching out to others to see how you can solve the problem. How lovely!

The illustrations in the book are large sized, easy to see and really cute.

This book is duo lingual and written in two languages for inclusivity

The book covers important topics like diversity and features in a library setting

Multiple things I loved about this book. 1) multiple messages including but not limited to the lack of diverse/inclusive children's books, the importance of reading, importance of speaking up for yourself, and more. I think the messages were well done for a variety of audiences from preschool to adult. I loved how the book was bilingual. I also loved the artwork. It was well formatted and language easy to read out loud. I would definitely recommend this book.

Super cute read for my child. Loved that it was bilingual. Learning at this age is the best time for both languages. This helped him

Powerful story with beautiful pictures.

Use your voice and stand on what you believe.

This is a story about a boy that enjoys going to the library with his Pa. There comes a time when he realizes that there are no books that look like him at the library or bookstore. Therefore, him and his Pa write letters to everyone expressing the need for diversity books to be available. Well by him speaking up, a change was made at the library. It began a step in the right direction.

The book mentions how pictures of animals are used more, which I've never liked. I'm all about representation of all people and hearing everyone's story.

I See Me is a very sweet short story about a boy who loves books. He loves to read and is easily able to spot characters that l9ook like his friends. He wants to be able to see himself in the stories he loves and so goes on a journey to do just that. this book illustrates the importance of representation in media and how much it could impact young readers. this was very sweet and truly warmed my heart.

One of my favorite Kids book i've read this year!

This book is all about diversity and standing up for what you believe in!
When a child sees a lack of diversity in one of his favorite places(The library)
He takes a stand and wants to be seen!

This book was a great one for me and my littles to enjoy together! It had strong messages positive ways of accomplishing your goals and being seen.
The pictures were wonderful and my kids loved engaging in the story with me.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for this ARC for reviewing purposes.

I read a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. The cover and bilingual concept drew me to the book, and I was very pleasantly surprised with its content. Leo is a young boy who love books, the library and spending time with his grandfather. He becomes dismayed when he realizes that books seem to exclusively feature white characters and he can’t find anyone who looks like him in the pages. Ultimately, librarian Lily comes through with an expanded book selection featuring diversity of color, ability, gender, religion and more. It’s a heartwarming sentiment and a call to action.

Oh this is a bilingual book!! I love it so much to learn about the other language. This book is such a good book for children. It follows a boy who loves to read books and he often go to the library with his granfather, but one day he can't find one single book that tells story about a character who look like him. I appreciate and really love this book because from here we can taught the children to know about diversity. It is such a fun book and the artwork is so stunning, so colorful and represent the diversity.

I loved this one. This book highlights the need for diverse characters in children’s literature. I loved how the main character is shown advocating for the local library to feature children’s books from more diverse perspectives. This book shows the impact that diverse perspectives in literature has on children. I highly recommend this book!

This is a very cute story with a very, very important message. It was great to see a book that is bilingual, because that too sends an important message to young readers. I loved the illustrations as well.

A young boy who is a voracious reader begins to try and look for himself in the pages of the books that he loves so much in the library. But despite his efforts - he finds plenty of adventures, and animals, and stories that remind him of some of his other friends, who are all white - he cannot find anyone who looks like him.

His grandfather helps him look, and they even in to a bookstore, but they still have no luck. And Lily, the lovely librarian, has no answers either. At least, not initially.

The child's consequent distress makes the case very clear wrt the need for diversity in literature, so that everyone can see themselves reflected in the books that are available to them.

At the end of the story, the author also makes a very clear case not only for diversity but also by highlighting the need to take action against the ongoing efforts - both stealthy and brutal - to ban books that tell the stories of many readers who belong to a minority group and/or are POC.

This is an important book for young children to read for a variety of reasons - not least to encourage the realisation that everyone's story is equally important and deserves to be told and to be read. Highly recommended.

A great bi-lingual book about a child who loves reading and going to the library. While reading, the main character realizes that none of the characters in the book resemble the main character. Its important for books to have diversity in them so all kids can see themselves in a book!

Bilingial English/Spanish story of a kid and his grandfather who frequent the library, but eventually realise the products on offer are too white. Not even the local bookshop has enough representation on the shelves, and so they get campaigning. Clearly this is a key issue for many, and this is handled well and sensibly here, both for the kids enjoying the bulk of this and for their adults with the last couple of pages, but I do kind of think this is a bit late to the game. I guess it's my heinous white privilege that makes me point out that I do see copious instances of books with full ethnic diversity, but all I can say is I think the problem is on the way out. Still, if this acts as a reminder and final nudge, that's no bad thing.

💡Really hit the mark on the message!

I See You: Me Veo does a first class job getting its message across. The main character schoolboy joins forces with his grandfather, who has helped him develop a love for libraries and reading, to get reading materials that include diversity so that he and others can actually see themselves in the stories they read. They don't just sit back and gripe about it. They start a campaign to ask for more diversity at the library and in bookstores.

The story is told alternating English and Spanish text, so it could also be a vehicle for children to learn a second language. The artwork is bright and cheerful, and the text is direct and easy to read.

I really liked that the author added a final note to suggest other ways to promote diversity in reading materials and explain why she considers it so important.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the storybook; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I have been meaning to read more diverse books, and this one was absolutely perfect. Growing up, I was always obsessed with spending every free time I had in the library. This story brought so many amazing memories from those times.

Especially because I haven't read in Spanish in a while, and it was an absolutely delightful change. This incredible story is told by a boy who loves to read, from chapter books to adventure stories. His Pa (abuelo) also enjoys spending time in the library. One particular thing is very noticeable to him. The more books he reads, the more he notices that there aren't books with diverse characters. With the help of Lily, the librarian, they will change that, and the results are absolutely magical. Also, the book is written in Spanish and in English so that kids can see how wonderful it is to see different languages in books. Absolutely high praise for the author, which is an inspiration herself.

This is a timely children’s story following a small child and their library adventures with their Pa. Spending so much time in the library gives them great joy but they come to find this library lacks diversity in the selection and characters.

Seeing yourself represented in materials as a young child can make such a difference in one’s perspective as they shape their perceptions of the world, and the opportunities that surround them. I enjoyed the bilingual way this story was presented and love that the librarian was a shining example for the child, because librarians are such a gift!

I See Me : Me Veo is a beautifully illustrated bilingual book about a little who loves reading and visiting the library but realizes that none of the books he reads have characters characters that look like him. It's a great starting point for discussions of inclusivity and diversity in books and library collections

I love the illustrations. And the bilingual text. It is a good way to learn Spanish or English. This story allows the language to come alive through word and picture. I wish there were more books like this available. Thank you to the author, the illustrator and to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to experience this book and I freely and willingly give this honest review.