Early Book Review: Starring Me and You by Geneviève Côté

Starring Me and You by Geneviève Côté is an adorable picturebook that is scheduled for release on March 1 2014. Piggy and Bunny are good friends with big differences. While they encourage each other's inner stars as they prepare to step on stage, they discover that the same feeling can be expressed in very different ways. This gently funny story sets the stage for preschoolers learning how to play together after years of being stars of their own show.

Starring Me and You has delightful illustrations and a story that can be a great tool for parents, teachers, and caregivers of all kinds. Piggy and Bunny are good friends about to get onto their own stage and put on a show. But in the process they discover that Bunny is a little frightened to get on stage and is not quite ready to face the limelight, while Piggy handles his nervousness by smiling big and struggling through it. The pair go through a series of different feelings, and how they each react to those emotions. Because of this great variety and discussion between the characters, I think this book can help children understand each other, and their own feelings a little bit better. The idea that everyone is different, that everyone reacts to feeling and fears in their own way, is something important for people of all ages to understand and remember.

I would recommend Starring Me and You for reading with two to six year olds, or any children that need to better understanding of these ideas. The book would do well in a public library, classroom, or personal collection and start a few great discussions with young readers.