I Can Do It Myself by Valorie Fisher (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: I Can Do It Myself by Valorie Fisher Elizabeth Bush Fisher, Valorie I Can Do It Myself; written and illus. by Valorie Fisher. Schwartz & Wade, 2014 [32p] ISBN 978-0-449-81593-9 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad 2-4 yrs In this early concept picture book, Fisher takes a peripatetic tour of the mile markers of pre-school independence. Some achievements involve life skills, others are academic, and they appear in no discernible order of either type or complexity. Photographs mostly featuring plastic dolls and toys, with occasional close-ups of real children’s faces or body parts, offer generally clear visual cues to how to accomplish each task. “I know my left and I know my right” are deftly oriented to a kid’s viewpoint; viewers look down and across to a left foot and left hand on the verso, mirror imaged on the recto, while plastic animals and dolls along the top of the page raise their arms respectively. “I write my numbers” is also neatly diagrammed to demonstrate the step-by-step pencil strokes for each figure. Not all offerings are that successful, though. “I use scissors” has little to say about safety; “I use my shapes and colors” involves several shapes that were not introduced in the previous shapes section; the two-step direction on jacket zipping shows a frontal view of the zipper that the child does not see at the critical moment, and of course it fails to take into account that some skills (like shoe tying) require dexterity that arrives in its own good time. Still, the cheery palette, spacious layout, and comically pedantic retro toys should hold viewers’ attention, even as the lessons themselves are variously instructive, affirming, or simply aspirational. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois