Sounds True, 9781683640059, 32 pp., 2018
Princess stories are passe, and a new role model for young girls in on the rise: the warrior goddess! Jennifer Adams and Carme Lemniscates have collaborated to create a new children’s book titled I Am a Warrior Goddess. This is a 32-page easy-to-read book intended for children ages four to eight. Written in the first person, it tells the story of a little girl with bright orange hair who is a warrior goddess. Reading the story aloud makes one feel bold as they vocalize the empowering lines that comprise this heart-warming book.
Using only a basic vocabulary suitable for the beginner-level reader, I Am a Warrior Goddess explains what it means to be a young warrior goddess, weaving a narrative that teaches young girls how to be connected with the sun and the earth, with themselves, how to take care of both mind and body, and get along with others, using kindness in leadership, and being filled with gratitude and love for those around them.
There is only one short sentence on each page, making this a fantastic book for young readers to practice their reading-aloud skills. Each page of the book is filled with colourful illustrations that are simple, yet engage the eye and allow the imagination to wander, providing the fantastic visual background of nature. The characters drawn on the pages of the book are diverse and demonstrate a sense of inclusiveness.
Starting in the morning and ending at nighttime, it seems as though this book is meant to be a bedtime story. However, I Am A Warrior Goddess is definitely suitable for any children’s book collection, and can be read any time. I really enjoyed this book, because it offers a new narrative for little girls. There was nothing frilly about the warrior goddess in the book. She is confident, connected, and fierce — yet gentle. I think that providing new imaginative stories for girls is just what is needed to inspire a future generation of women who are comfortable in their leadership abilities and stewardship of community values.
I read the book with a little girl I babysit for, and she spent the rest of the day saying she was a warrior goddess. Reading the book together opened up a dialogue to talk about what it means to greet the earth, sun, and wind in the morning, and how to treat the people we interact with during the day. By reading the book, I was able to better explain why it is so vital that we take time to appreciate nature, and use the warrior goddess as an example of a little girl who cares and tends for the world around her.
Overall, this is perfect for inspiring young warrior goddesses. Teaching values of care, kindness, and compassion, the book offers an easy-to-read story that calls for little girls to be a new kind of leader. The illustrations and vocabulary of I Am a Warrior Goddess make a great story for beginner readers, yet I think girls of all age have something to gain from it.
