I Am Every Good Thing

An upbeat, empowering, important picture book from the team that created the award-winning Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. A perfect gift for any special occasion!

I am
a nonstop ball of energy.
Powerful and full of light.
I am a go-getter. A difference maker. A leader.

The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and no doubt he'll see them through--as he's creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he's afraid, because he's so often misunderstood and called what he is not. So slow down and really look and listen, when somebody tells you--and shows you--who they are. There are superheroes in our midst!

Author: Derrick Barnes
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Published: 09/01/2020
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 11.00h x 8.60w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780525518778
Audience: Ages 4-8


Award: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards - Honor Book
Award: Kirkus Prize - Winner


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2020
Booklist 08/01/2020 pg. 62
School Library Journal 08/07/2020 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2020 pg. 37
Publishers Weekly 09/07/2020
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2020 pg. 55
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2020 - Book Of Special Distinction
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2020 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Derrick Barnes wrote the New York Times bestseller The King of Kindergarten, as well as the critically acclaimed picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (illustrated by Gordon James), which received a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the 2018 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award, and the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers. He also wrote the bestselling chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys. He owns the copy-writing company Say Word Creative Communications and created the popular blog Raising the Mighty, where he chronicles the experience of bringing up four beautiful Black boys in America. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and their four sons.

Gordon C. James illustrated the critically acclaimed picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (by Derrick Barnes), which received a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor, the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers, and a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. He also illustrated Let 'Er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People's Champion (by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson). He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.