Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody! (Book One in the Ima Nobody Series) by Brenda Poage Illustrated by Jenna Murray

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

Do you remember the Bully in first grade? Many children face this issue on a daily basis, as Ima Nobody does in the excerpt from the book, Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody!

"Ima, I never knew a Nobody that was somebody! All you Nobodys will never amount to anything, just like your name." This made Ima feel sad. It was then and there that Ima decided that she was going to prove to that Billy Do-good that she would in fact amount to something and be somebody.

You know these issues. Dealing with differences, and dealing with the reactions of those angered by it, are tough issues for young children to face.

I encourage you and invite you to take the journey with Ima and her first grade classmates as they discover their own self worth, strengths, and weaknesses. You will find that this story does not tell children how to react to Ima's predicament. It does however show a positive way in which Ima deals with the situation.

This is Book One in the Ima Nobody Series - be sure to follow along with Ima and her friends as they discover themselves and learn important life lessons along the way. .

My thoughts:

I received this book from Bostick Communications for review purposes.  I requested this book because bullying is such a big issue with children.  Both as a teacher and as a parent I am very concerned about bullying.

Yesterday I read through the book on my own to see if I want to share it with my children.  I do think I will share it with them or give it to them to read on their own.  It put bullying into very simple and easy to see situations, unfortunately not all bullying is as easy to identify, but this is a start.  Ima has continual problems with Billy Do-good in her class and manages to overcome them and show how you can feel like a "Nobody" and through self confidence you can become a "Somebody".

The book is very simple, each character has a name that sounds just like who they are, and as an adult it felt a bit overly simple, but I think by taking out situations and names that could cause confusion it manages to focus all of its attention on bullying and Ima changing her own behavior so as not to be a victim but to be confident standing up for herself.

•Pub. Date: September 2009

•Publisher: AuthorHouse

•Format: Paperback , 88pp

•ISBN-13: 9781449001575

•ISBN: 1449001572

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