Sunday, January 10, 2016

Superkids by Anya Damirón


Rating: WORTHY!

'Superkids' as a title is way-the-heck over-used, but this is the first book with this title that I've ever read, and overall I think it's a worthy read for appropriate age children, with bright colorful illustrations by Pablo Pino.

Ivan is a regular tear-away boy who has lots of energy and is obsessed with the super heroes he sees in movies and reads of in comic books. One day his parents (who are smarter than they look!) decide to take him to meet some real super heroes - kids who have overcome various difficulties to make their life what they want it to be despite obstacles.

Ivan gets to meet a boy who can paint with his feet, a girl who reads Braille, wheelchair-unbound kids who play basketball, a girl who can use sign language, a boy who can dress himself with the only arm he has, and so on. Ivan learns a valuable lesson from this, though he can't emulate any of these people when he tries. His parents point out to him, however, that he does have one superpower which is perhaps the best of all: he can accept people for who they are, and find the best in everyone.

I'd like to see a version of this in which Ivan meets people who are different in other ways: overweight, impoverished, of different race or beliefs, and so on, but that aside, this was a great start towards encouraging children to accept people for who they are, and which teaches them to dwell upon commonalities rather than differences even as they learn to appreciate difference and variety. That said, I recommend this book. I think it's well done and full of heart.