Quick Summary: A "DO YOU" message

My Review: The Girl Who Said Sorry by Hayoung Yim is a simple read with a powerful message. It would be an excellent conversation starter for any girls group or youth program aimed at empowering females.

My Final Say: This book presented a timeless lesson. The big takeaway... Be who you are and don't apologize for it.

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: C/Y

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher, and to NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.

I remember reading this book and thinking how poignant and straightforward it is in its message: we have to learn to live unapologetically. We have to learn this at an early age. Apologies are often the most misconstrued and misinterpreted figures of speech!

I honestly recommend this book to all women in the world. We have been trapped to be restrained. But all the motivation comes from this book. It's time not to say "sorry" but not to hurt and remain self-conscious.
Yes, this book is very beautiful with illustrated illustrations. I was stunned for a number of things, especially about the word "sorry". I think being myself is very important and free for expression. Look, now women don't have to hold back but also don't be embarrassing.
Very inspiring!

It's an awesome story about expectation to kids, especially the girl one.
We are expected to be perfect. Balanced amount, between mature and childish.
It's quite stressful, I think. And the author can deliver the message very well.
However, I believe it's not only the girl that have this kind of issue. Boys have quite similar issue, but in a different way or situation.

I started this but this wasn't in my normal range of what I read so I handed it off to a family member. They didn't love it but they didn't hate it. They said that they felt that they wouldn't rush out to buy it for someone else to read. I don't think we were the right audience for this one. It's a little too feminist thought process kind of thing... if that makes sense? I don't know how I would explain it. I can see how it would be helpful for young girls in this confusing world that we're in right now but I also think it's the parents job to explain that more... Like I said, this wasn't for me and it's not something I would necessarily read to or with my daughter.

The theme is incredibly important, but the execution is rough. I'm not sure kids will understand the importance of why a child shouldn't feel the need to say no (or why a child feels the need to say sorry in the first place). I think each situation should have been followed with why the character could have said anything but sorry, or not needed to say sorry. Waiting until the end was as effective, to me at least. It is still a good way to introduce the concept to young girls that they do not need to apologize so much.

Not only the pictures, I love the message that the author try to deliver. Just like they say, both of them are so powerful. This book is not only for children. Everyone should read this.

I LOVED this book! When I picked it up for reviewing, I expected it to be a children's book teaching the value of sincere apologies - which was a hasty accusation based on the cover, to be fair - but it was so much better than what I expected. THE GIRL WHO SAID SORRY is about a young girl being forced to deal with society's expectations of her based on sexism and gender roles, and making herself "small" and "agreeable" as a girl. In the end, she realized that she needed to just be herself, and not worry about what other people thought. I absolutely loved it and thought it taught such a great value!

The Girl Who Said Sorry is a short and easy read, this is a book intended for 4 - 8 year olds. It does serve a good narrative for all the things that girls are told to do but not to do from an early age on. This is a picture book, and the illustrations are simplistic and colours are used sparingly. I think the design goes very well with the books theme. 
This book does cover a topic in great need for coverage, and I think it that this book could definitely help both child and parent. This book could potentially help a little girl to get on the path of discovering herself.

he Girl who Said Sorry is about how a girl is easily
encouraged and even easily discouraged.
She is expected to be sorry for being herself.
But the writer believes that we shouldn't be "sorry"
for being ourselves. Because we are not hurting someone,
instead we're expressing ourselves.
Girls are motivated to be brave, smart, follow their mind , etc.
But at the same time they're expected to never be bossy and be a lady.
Everytime she says "Sorry" and finally she realises
that for being herself she shouldn't be sorry.

The Girl Who Said Sorry is a perfect book. It's short, sweet and to-the-point. Essentially, a young girl continually apologizes for living her life because the way she wants to live is not the way her elders expect her to live. In the end she finds her inner strength and refuses to apologize for being herself any longer. It's got a strong feminist message, one that's not only helpful for children, but also adults. Too often women learn to apologize, to make themselves smaller for the convenience of others. It may take a while to unlearn it, but if we can all teach our girls they don't need to do it in the first place, then we're making progress. 

I will comment that because this book is so short, it focuses mainly on the girl. It doesn't give boys (or rather, male-identifying people) any pointers on how to be allies, but I think that's okay. Allyship can be the topic of another book. I think The Girl Who Said Sorry is fine just the way it is.

As if the lesson weren't enough by itself, half of the proceeds go to Girl Up, which is a UN Foundation campaign dedicated to empowering young girls. I plan on buying the book for that reason alone. By the way, if you haven't heard of Girl Rising (a separate campaign), you should definitely check that out.

This would be the perfect gift for any young girl, a book that I would have loved myself as a child.
This is a picture books telling the story of a young girl who can’t seem to ‘win’ with anything of the things that she tries to do. It’s accompanied with simple yet beautiful black and white pen illustrations each with a splash of colour.

It has a excellent message for young girls and attempts to remove the unrealistic expectations that are placed on women and girls today

I really liked this book. The message is a very good one. That being said, I think this is a book that needs to be read to a child and elaborated on by an adult, a parent or teacher. The book is short and could be a bit more elaborated on, per my thinking. As an adult, I was able to get the message in the few pages, but my daughter needed more explanation. Not that this is a bad thing. I think processing this book with a teacher or an adult would be great and could lead to wonderful parent/child time and great teacher/student conversation. My favorite page was the most colorful page with the short and very to the point poem "If something is my fault, if it was within my power, I will own up to my mistake, without being sour." The other illustrations are less dramatic, but very nice and help elaborate on the words and meaning of the text.

Such a cute, uplifting, and relevant children's book!

Unless the subject matter really speaks to me, I typically never read children's books; they're just not my jam. But this book is DEFINITELY an exception to that rule.

Without question, this is a book that every parent, grandparent, godparent, or anyone else who plays an influential role in a child's life should buy and share with them.
The message is a powerful and relevant one in today's world -- girls ARE taught to be apologetic for basically everything they do, think, feel, and say.
It truly is a shame, and something that needs to stop.
It's an issue that needs to be addressed, and I think this book is a great way to begin such a discussion.

Teaching young girls to be their own person and not apologize for it while teaching them to be respectful and compassionate people is incredibly important (and no small task), and I wish more parents would make it a priority when raising their children.

The book itself was well written, and the illustrations (which I was ALWAYS a sucker for as a kid) were amazing! I also love, love, LOVE the fact that 50% of the profits from the book are donated to Girl Up - a campaign dedicated to empowering young girls to take action on global issues. Very cool!

Without a doubt, this will be the first book I buy for anyone in my life having a girl.

Kudos to Hayoung Yim for making the subject of her first children's book such a relevant and compelling one!



*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.*

Every family with a little girl should buy this book. If you are a feminist or believe in feminism, you should buy this book for a little girl you know. Girls are constantly being held to double standards. Either you are too skinny, or you eat too much. You should be quiet and meek, but you should also speak your mind. And normally happens when a child is found wanting, they apologize. This books tells little girls to not only be themselves, but they do not have to apologize for being themselves. There is no need to say sorry because someone else thinks you're too opinionated, or don’t wear enough dresses. If you want to play in the mud with the boys, go for it. I love the message in this book, and we do not as a society teach it enough!

A book every girl who has been told she has to be a certain way, and can't be herself, just to live up to society's standards, should read.

I was thinking what I should say for this picture book as the description above speaks volume. No review can describe or tell about book better than that.

The book is not for just young girls but for all parents, teachers and both males and females. No matter how educated and modern this world has become gender discrimination is one thing that is still rooted in this world so strongly. At age 28 also I’m facing the issues just because I’m female!! You should do this, you should speak like this, do this and that, get married, have child and blah blah blah.

And the main and sad thing is females do these things more than males. (Of course that’s my observation, not pointing to anyone) Some won’t tell their boys to behave in particular way no matter what age is but they will expect particular kind of behavior from daughters or daughter-in-law! Or tell their boys this is girl’s work, you should not do it and let female of the house do the male’s work!!! Why??

When at my age I have this question and feeling, I can’t even imagine what little girls might be thinking and where she will be after 20 or 30 years. No doubt some will grow up with thought like they have done something wrong coming into this discriminating world and will apologize for everything like the girl in this picture book was doing or some who are strong enough will turn rebellious and stand for themselves without caring the about the world.

May be this sounds more feminist but it’s not just about that and it’s more about being who you’re without a gender tag.

This book is very inspiring with simple story and simple illustrations that says a lot. It teaches not to be sorry for each and everything people say, not to treat a girl like she has come into this world with so called rules written on her forehead that the society has made for them. It was it was about teaching girls to be themselves with confidence and not being sorry for that. Everyone is different, everyone is special and so is every girl and boy.

It’s ok if a girl is thin or fat, or ugly or beautiful, shy or bold, quiet or loud, girlish or boyish,,, or whatever adjective that I forgot to mention. She is human just like boys are human or like any adult. Never tie any human with gender tag or any rule society has made for them. Live and let live.

Overall This is very thoughtful book that I recommend to everyone. I’ll say don’t just buy this copy for your girl, buy for your boy as well and for you school.

Valuable book on gender expectations. A must-read for everyone and especially for girls, who have to deal with living up to standards set for them. The message? Stop apologizing for who you are, be yourself. Kudos to the author for donating 50% of profits from this book to a cause. Nice illustrations!

I thought this was an interesting looking book when I saw the cover. The simple sketch style with selected colour portions really reminded me of a few books I read as a kid in the 80s. Another element that appealed was that this book was about being yourself and accepting who you are (and not apologising for it).

For today's society this book is, in many ways, very relevant. Mixed messages about what you can/can't do or be/can't be seem to surround the younger generation - something I believe is largely fueled by social media.

But back to the story...it's a simple message that is conveyed well and if I was teaching an all-girl class this would be in the Use It category. I can see a few issues arising however if attempting to use it in the mainstream co-ed class - such as isolating boys. I am aware this book was written by a feminist and I get the message she is trying to convey...but...boys will ultimately face the same issues. I keep thinking of the first page with the girl in the pink tutu and then think of whenever a boy wears a pink shirt. As a society we have confusing standards but we also still have double standards. While many wouldn't look twice at the girl in skaterboy clothing, if a boy was to dress in a pink shirt and shorts - I'm pretty sure that the reaction would be much different from the average person.

So where does that leave the book? It's a good book, it's got a good message for girls. So if you are a homeschooling parent with a daughter - then grab it and use it as it could be a very empowering book to read. If your a teacher of a co-ed classroom - yeah, sorry I would exercise caution unless you have a companion book to read with it for boys, or of course you plan on using this book to look at stereotypes for both girls and boys. That could lead to a lot of great discussions.