• Age: 3 to 5
• Grade: p to k
• Reading age: 3 to 5

Key Selling Points

• In I Love Myself , we accompany a child through their day full of ups and downs, including falling into a rain puddle, trying a new game with friends and taking the training wheels off their bike, as they learn how to love themselves through it all.
• The book focuses on self-care, compassion and self-regulation throughout the myriad complicated moments life can offer, for kids who are learning to develop that caring voice inside themselves.
• Children's mental health has been much discussed lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents, teachers and kids will all appreciate this simple, accessible and comforting story with its positive theme.
• The author was inspired to write this by her son's struggles with thinking he wasn't capable or wasn't good enough. She started sending notes with positive messages in his lunchbox to help him learn how to be kind to himself.

Wai Mei Wong is an early childhood educator with a passion for making sure children and their families have the emotional support they need to thrive. Her debut picture book, Hello, Dark, celebrates a child-led solution to nighttime anxiety as a little boy overcomes his fear of the dark by befriending it. Born in Hong Kong, Mei now lives in Toronto with her husband, her nature-loving son, and two feline friends, Sesame and Pepper.

Wai Mei Wong's profile page

Julia Vasileva is a Vancouver, British Columbia–based children's book illustrator whose books include Agent Pangolin and How the Faeries Dance. From an early age she had a voracious love of books and stories, which led to her getting a literature degree. After she immigrated to Canada in 2014, she found herself creating books instead of studying them. Her style combines traditional and digital techniques to build imaginative worlds for children to dive into.

Julia Vasileva's profile page

“Showcases the simple, everyday opportunities a child can encounter to reinforce positive thoughts and self-love…The repetition reminds readers that self-love is a mindset to be continuously practiced and repeated.”

School Library Journal (SLJ)

“Models self-love through affirmations…Other instances express warm appreciation for self and life…Cuddly and reassuring.”

Publishers Weekly

“A solid starting place to spark conversations about self-acceptance and one’s inner self.”

Kirkus Reviews