Just Because I Am: A Child's Book of Affirmation

by Lauren Murphy Payne M.S.W., Pamela Espeland (Editor), Claudia Rohling (Illustrator)

Warm, simple words and enchanting illustrations strengthen and support young children's self-esteem.This Child's Book invites little ones to love, accept, and respect themselves

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Self Esteem

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

Reviews

[Amanda]

This book is fantastic and covers affirmation, consent, feelings, and safety. 10/10 recommend. Bonus points for diversity and disability rep. Also the tips in the back of the book are great advice for kids and parents alike. 💯

[Hannah]

This book is extremely sweet and can remind children that they are both worthy and loved just existing. It can help young readers understand and name their feelings while showing how positive self-esteem can be and that it is okay to be emotional.
This can be excellent for children who struggle with emotions, especially to be able to use tools like emotion cards or journals and reinforce the calm-down corner.

[Lisa]

Warm and inclusive, this book covers a lot of topics without too many words. My 2 and 4 year old stayed pretty interested throughout, despite some of the topics being a bit nebulous. I kind of wish the pages about being scared of things hadn't been included, but I can see how they could be really useful for some kids and seemed to bother my kids less than me!

[Elizabeth Tirado]

I highly recommend Just Because I Am for classroom libraries, circle time, or family literacy events. Its empowering affirmations, vibrant illustrations, and focus on self-esteem make it a valuable resource for nurturing confident, emotionally aware, and resilient young learners.

[Amanda]

Handles sensitive issues clearly and on a child-friendly level.

[Christine Turner]

Subject: Self-perception -- Juvenile literature.
Self-acceptance -- Juvenile literature.
Affirmations -- Juvenile literature.
Self-talk in children.

Personal note: Don't add to kit.

[Kris]

A basic but sweet book about accepting yourself. I liked that it let kids know that their feelings are okay, and that it is okay to say no to things that don’t feel right.

[Jo Oehrlein]

Reminds kids that they're allowed to have feelings and that they are special because they are you.

A few of the affirmations seemed more aimed at the adults around than at the kids.

[Katie]

Simple book that covers personal affirmation, feelings, and safety. A lot of diversity in the kids depicted.

[Camelia Celea]

Beloved

[Christina]

Great book for helping kids work through feelings.

[Asho]

We came across this used book as a freebie so I picked it up and gave it to my two-year-old, although I think it would be appropriate for my five-year-old as well (probably not much older than that, though, as the language is super-simple). This seems like a very good way to introduce the concepts of trusting yourself, knowing who to ask for help when needed, and understanding the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching.
The images are colorful and cartoonish. My daughter was very focused on the pictures during our first reading so I'm not sure how much of the affirmations she internalized, but I think I'll keep coming back to this one periodically whether she loves it or not because it does have a very appropriate and useful message. I'm planning to read it with my son as well.

[Jessica Nekuda]

Super effective way to help students learn to trust the right adults as well as themselves

[Jack]

Age appropriate. good illustrations. Great section for caring adults in the back. K-1 OWL class recommended resource.

[Hunter Woodley]

Just Because I Am is a great story for kids maybe struggling with identity issues or issues with what things are and how to react them. Children develop in all different ways so this book could be a big help to one in need of some extra help in development of yes and no and also about their mind and body.