Break The Mould
We are living through challenging and confusing times and this book responds to them perfectly. Drawing on her own experiences, Burke describes how she came to understand and accept herself and develop her abilities to cope with life’s challenges as a small person.
Burke’s achievements are many and include fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher and ‘finding her voice’ through her passion for clothes and fashion, but this book is much more than an autobiographical narrative. Burke invites the reader to participate in a ‘what makes a me and what makes a you’ reflection and gently but expertly shows how thinking about and respecting yourself leads to recognising and respecting others. She then goes on to show how this process opens up opportunities for you to achieve your goals and ambitions and help others to achieve theirs.
While the book is deceptively simple – I read it in one sitting – Burke still manages to address all the hard questions in the gentlest and most enabling way and takes the opportunity to show how other inspirational figures have used their differences to achieve their dreams and make an impact on things they care about.
Byrne’s lively and active illustrations add interest and the whole is a bright, colourful, engaging book with heart and soul that delivers an inspirational read for those aged nine to twelve, but many older readers would enjoy it too.
