** spoiler alert ** Title: You Are Special
Author: Max Lucado
Illustrator: Sergio Martinez

Publisher: Crossway Books
Year of Publication: 1997

Grade level: K-6
Genre: Picture Book
Topic: Self-esteem
Social Issues Addressed: The topic of self-esteem is addressed in this book. For elementary school students, this is a relevant social issue among children in dealing with issues, such as popularity.

Summary: The Wemmicks are wooden people. They give each other stars and dot. Stars are for being talented and pretty, and dots are for being ugly or non-talented. Punchinello is a Wemmick who receives dots, but one day he meets a Wemmick who doesn’t have stars or dots and is told to go visit Eli. He does, and Eli tells Punchinello that he is special because Eli made him. He also tells him the only way to get rid of the spots is to not care about what other people think about him. When Punchinello leaves Eli’s, one of his dots falls off of his body.

Interactions Between Text and Illustrations: The illustrations reinforce what text is telling the reader which allows the reader to have a better understanding of the meaning of the story.

Curricular Uses: Read aloud or independent reading
Literary Elements: Plot and characters