I would like to share a new children’s book I received I Am Today written by Matt Forrest Esenwine which is illustrated by Patricia Pessoa in exchange for a review of this book.
I wanted to share I Am Today with Charlie who has always wanted a Turtle as a Pet. Throughout the book Charlie kept saying mom look at this or look at that. Then Charlie would point out the Animals he saw. Charlie was surprised to find a string on the Turtle.
Like the girl in the book Charlie let me know he wants to be kind and help make a difference in the World we live in. Which will lead to Field Trips to local Beaches to clean them up. While leading to new studies on Pollution and Recycling.
If you haven’t had the chance to read I Am Today I hope you take the time to read the book yourself as well as share the story with everyone you know. Especially our children who are the Future of the World we live in.
About:
A young girl realizes that she doesn’t have to wait until she’s grown-up to stand up for what is right and make a big impact.
While playing on the beach in her Coastal town, a young girl comes across a Sea Turtle ensnared by a wire. Her town is home to a factory that has provided jobs for many of her neighbors, including her mother, but it has also been dumping garbage from a pipe into the Eaters, threatening the creatures that live in them.
Children are used to being asked what they’ll do and be when they grow up, but the girl knows there is so much she can do today to help. Unable to forget the sight of the struggling Turtle, with a fantastic act she inspires the townspeople to compel the factory to change its destructive ways.
Written in spare and evocative poetry, I Am Today is an empowering story for children who want to be the change the world needs.
About Matt Forrest Esenwine
A voiceover talent and commercial copy writer, Matt can be heard on commercials, animation, and corporate videos from Maine to Florida, from California to New Jersey, from the U.K. to Dubai. Over the years, Matt has had several adult poems published in independent collections, including the Tall Grass Writers Guild’s “Seasons of Change,” “The Licking River Review,” and the Donald Hall tribute anthology, “Except for Love” (Encircle, 2019), among others. In 2012, his poem, “Apple-Stealing,” was nominated by the Young Adult Review Network (YARN) for a Pushcart Prize.
His debut picture book, “Flashlight Night” (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), received a starred review from Kirkus and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Picture Books for Kids of 2017. You can find his children’s poetry in numerous anthologies including Lee Bennett Hopkins’ “School People” (Wordsong, 2018) and J. Patrick Lewis’ “The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry” (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2015), as well as “Highlights for Children” magazine. Matt lives in New Hampshire with his wife and children.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
