We each have something that makes us special and unique. Whether it is creative skills, intellectual ability or a caring or empathetic nature, every one of us has something that sets us apart. It is so important to help kids understand that they are unique in their own way, and to not be afraid or embarrassed of the things that make them special. Today’s children’s book about being yourself is a great story about an ordinary boy who learns that he is extraordinary, and how he copes with what makes him different.

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Perfectly Norman was written and illustrated by Tom Percival. This striking picture book introduces readers to Norman, a perfectly normal young boy who grows wings. He isn’t sure how people will handle his new wings, so he hides them away from the world. As he continues trying to hide what makes him special and unique, he finds himself growing more miserable. When he finally decides to show his true self to the world, he is pleased to find that he is much happier being himself.

Check out these other children’s books about being yourself!

Playing with Feathers

Feathers Sorting – The focus on feathered wings in this story gave us a perfect opportunity to play with feathers! I decided to set up a sorting game for my daughter to work on color recognition and sorting. I divided our tabletop into four sections with masking tape. Next I taped a different colored feather to the top of each section. Finally, I spread additional feathers across the table.

I gave her a straw and encouraged her to use it to blow the feathers into the appropriate sections of the table. She had so much fun blowing the feathers around and matching them. You could also label each section with a number and encourage kids to blow the right number of feathers into each section.

Flying Tag – Since this story is about a little boy with wings, this seemed like a perfect time to play a game where we could pretend we were flying. We decided to play a game of freeze tag where 1 person is “it” and everyone else has wings like Norman. As everyone else pretends to fly around the yard, the child that is “it” runs around trying to tag them. If a child is tagged, he or she “loses their wings” and has to stay where they are. If they are tagged by another flying player, they can have their wings back and start running again. This continues until there is only one flying kid left, and that child becomes “it” for the next round.

Celebrating What Makes You Unique

What Makes You Special – Oftentimes it can be hard to remember to tell ourselves why we are special. Encourage your kids to make a list of things that make them special. If they have trouble with it, start out by writing lists of what makes other members of the family special. It can sometimes be easier to start with others before focusing on yourself. This book is a great reminder that we should tell our family members why they are special to us too. You could also use this printable to get you started!

Celebrate what makes each of you wonderful with this beautiful book as well!

Discussion – Once your kids have started to recognize what it is that makes them special, have a conversation about what it would feel like if they had to hide what makes them special. What if they couldn’t play baseball or draw? What if they were unable to do nice things for people or couldn’t use their height to help people? Remind them how their special abilities can be used to help people and talk about how good it feels when they do. The more you remind them of how good it feels to celebrate themselves, the better off they will be!

Learn to Stand Out!

Standing Out – The illustrations in this book are stunning because of the reserved use of bright colors. Most of the illustrations are done in black and white with only a few items in color. Talk to kids about why this illustration style is effective. What is their eye drawn to? Give them a chance to practice this type of artwork by having them create pictures using only black and white, then adding themselves to the picture in color.

Have them draw themselves in a way that showcases what makes them special. Are they playing a sport they play well? Are they listening to a friend in need? Talk about how the use of color showcases what is important on the page, and how it shows what is most special about them. The illustrations become more colorful as Norman is allowed to be himself. Why do you think that is?This beautiful children’s book about being yourself is a great way to talk to kids about what makes them unique and why they should be proud.

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