Looking Like Me

When you look in a mirror, who do you see?

A boy? A girl?
A son? A daughter?
A runner? A dancer?

Whoever and whatever you see―just put out your fist and give yourself an "I am" BAM!

This jumping, jazzy, joyful picture book by the award-winning team of Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers celebrates every child, and everything that a child can be.

School Library Journal Best Book Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices

“"Walt Whitman once wrote, 'I contain multitudes,' and that important concept is brilliantly interpreted here by the Myers' father-son partnership. The elder Myers' rhythmic poem celebrates a young Everyman from Harlem who looks in the mirror to 'see a real handsome dude looking just like me.' Moving through the city, he encounters family and friends who share their points of view: 'Along came my sister, / fine as she can be. / "Hey, Jeremy," she said, / "You're little brother to me."' Each helps him see that he is a valued artist, runner, dreamer, and more, and that he has a lot to give to himself and the world. The innovative art and design represent different identities with colorful silhouettes placed against photos of people, places, and icons. Sometimes the connections are more obvious, like the photo of a sun, which plays on the word son, and there is an image of a stingray accompanying Jeremy's reference to himself as 'a silver-rayed moonbeamer'; other images, such as Buddha heads, giraffes, and ketchup bottles, suggest more abstract connections. The overall effect is that of performers in front of a huge screen of rapidly changing images at a pop concert or a video game, and blocks of solid color provide visual rest and keep the gutters clear. This very contemporary work is encouraging, energetic, and inspired." starred, Booklist”

"Students will enjoy the jazzy rhythm and upbeat message of the poem....Highly Recommended." —starred review, Library Media Connection

"The rhyme and repetition flow naturally, capturing the rhythms of everyday conversation and the hip-hop beats many children hear daily....This book is an excellent introduction to verse, for it vividly demonstrates how poetry is a vital part of daily life." —starred, School Library Journal

"This very contemporary work is encouraging, energetic, and inspired." —starred, Booklist

"This vibrant synthesis of poetry and pictures is a natural for classrooms and family sharing." —starred, Kirkus Reviews

"[E]ven the more curmudgeonly among us might appreciate the message when it's dressed up as fine as it is in this picture book by Myers pére et fils." —The Horn Book Magazine

Walter Dean Myers has received accolades including the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, Michael L. Printz Award, National Book Award Finalist, and Newbery Honors. In 2019 he was posthumously awarded the Children's Literature Legacy Award. Christopher Myers is an award-winning picture book writer and illustrator, but that's not all. He is also a fine artist, a filmmaker, a photographer, a video artist, a clothes designer, and a proud Brooklynite. Christopher has won many awards for his children's books, including a Caldecott Honor, four Coretta Scott King Honors, three Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors, a New York Times Best Illustrated citation, and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. A graduate of Brown University, Christopher was a member of the prestigious Whitney Museum Studio Program. His fine art has been shown in museums and galleries around the country, including PS1, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (Philadelphia), and the Museum of Contemporary Arts (Chicago). His film on Kenya for the Sundance Institute and the Gates Foundation has been used to launch Sundance's Short Film Challenge.

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