'You Are Special' is a sweet children's picture book with adorable, colorful illustrations. The story was a little generic to me. Kiki is a white cat who envies her colorful friends. To become more beautiful, she draws and paints herself. The story ends a bit abruptly with her mother giving her a bath and telling her she's special just the way she is, but I wish Kiki had come to that realization on her own.

Thank you NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing this ARC.

You are Special by Sam Loman is an adorable story about Kiki the cat and her journey to self-acceptance. This book makes the concept approachable and entertaining for early readers and has cute illustrations. I love the message that you're special just as you are!
Many thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A straightforward read about a cat named Kiki who wishes to be perceived to be ‘special’ by everyone including herself. I appreciate how this book highlights the importance of being happy with their self. However, whilst I liked the message of the story, I wished the book elaborated more on Kiki and her friends and how they treated her as I didn’t think they were nice. Moreover, I felt the resolution of the story to be a little anti-climactic with Kiki’s mother’s sweeping statement.

The art is adorable. The illustrations complimented the narrative with cute and simple designs. I also liked how the texts differed and emphasised certain words.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I know the children would enjoy this book. Can't wait to read it to them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's a cute story with even cuter pictures, but it's not terribly imaginative. The lesson itself falls a bit flat. Still, it could make a great read-aloud.

This is a sweet little picture book about being special for who and how you are. It also covers basic colors in a fun way as Kiki paints herself. I don't think Kiki's "friends" were always kind though,
"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

This book was wonderful and fun! I know I shouldn’t comment on the formatting. However, the kindle format put the story completely out of order so the actual storyline was a tad confusing. From what I understood of it though, the story was creative and unique. The illustrations were wonderfully tied to the tale.

I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A very cute little kitty Kiki is not happy how she looks.She tries different colors and shapes to be more pretty and acceptable.
This book has a very important message for children that's to be happy in their own skin.As much as the the illustrations and story goes it leaves an impact but the message should have been more elaborated than the one liner.It would have been easier for children to understand.
This book can be a good source of teaching colors too .

A fun story with lots of types of animals and colors to help with a story about how unique and special you are just the way you are.

Celebrate your individuality!

I liked the concept of this book but wish there was more to the ending then just the brother. It would have been nice to see Kiki truly comfortable in her own skin and appreciating herself for who she is.

A sweet story about appreciating yourself for just the way you are. I thought the drawing style was charming and I really liked the various animal designs. The overall message of the book was great for all kids!

This was so cute! I like that, in the end, Kiki was the happiest about all the colours she had on her. I know that this was mainly about loving and appreciating yourself the way you are, but I feel like it also encourages self-expression through the way we dress or do/dye our hair. A sweet story with really beautiful and adorable illustrations!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Clovis Publishing for my gifted eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely adorable! The colors are bright and vibrant and I really like that the color’s word is bigger than the rest of the text to help connect the two. The thing that bothers me about the story though, is that most of Kiki’s friends are not very nice, and either don’t pay attention to her or basically tell her that she’s not as good as them. Also, I’m not sure that the story fully gets the message across as intended. The ending is a little abrupt and I don’t think the mom’s quick comment really drives home the point like it should.

This book was cute, with beautiful illustrations, but far too short, in my opinion. I felt that there wasn't enough space to really get the whole story.
Kiki thinks that her white fur is too boring, so she decides to use markers, pencil crayons, and paint to make herself colourful like her friends.

While I love the story of 'you don't need to change yourself to be special', I felt that this book fell flat. Kiki's friends ignored her the entire time, and she doesn't feel special until her mother tells her so. I think that this book could have pushed the message of not needing to change more effectively, especially as it is aimed at young children.

Aside from the somewhat cute illustrations, this is really rather weak. It's the story of a white cat who thinks she's boring because she doesn't have pretty colours like her friends. So she goes and uses various art media to colour and paint herself. Her friends aren't impressed. Eventually, she's all colourful. Then her mother pops her in the tub and tells her she's special just as she is.

While the overall message is fine, it's overshadowed by some weird storytelling choices. Each time Kiki asks a friend if they like her new colours, they blow her off. Based on the illustrations, they're too wrapped up in their own vanity to notice or care (which begs the question of why these are her friends in the first place). I thought the friends' attitude might be addressed, but it wasn't. Another thing that threw me was that the cat was colouring herself with coloured pencils. Paint? Fine. Markers? Okay. But how do you draw on fur with coloured pencils? I'm also not a fan of the emphasis on specialness. Yes, Mommy tells the siblings they're special just as they are... but she'd also just told them they were special because they were all covered in rainbow colours. The message is a bit muddled, and I'm not sure if it's clear enough for 4-year-olds.

Overall, this is weak. Kids might enjoy the illustrations. But the message isn't strong enough (or clear enough) for this to be a book I would recommend.

The illustrations are beautiful! I thought the message came off clear but it doesn't make as big of an impact as I would like as it ends a little abruptly. I would've liked a little bit more affirmation that she is special just the way she is. Thank you for the copy!

Kiki is feeling down about herself. She decides to add color to her body. While she looks very pretty with the colors, she discovers that we are all special. It's a very empowering message for young kids. I especially loved the illustrations.

In this cute little adventure, Kiki the cat decides to paint her fur all different colors in the hops that she will be considered special by the other, more colorful, animals. After each color, she asks a different animal what they think, but never gets the response she wants.

Another adorably illustrated book! The best way I can think to describe these illustrations are whimsical-- they were just so fun. I thought the theme of doing one color per page was really neat and made the pictures really pop.

In terms of message, I was a little disappointed. Kiki spends the whole book trying to change herself to be like the other animals, and I was hoping for more of an affirmation that she is special as she is. At the end, her mother does say "you are special just the way you are," but that’s it. There is no conversation about not changing for others, or the discovery of another animal that likes Kiki with her natural fur. It also seemed to end a little abruptly.

I would give this a 3.5/5 stars, rounded to 3/5 for the abrupt ending, and lack of a stronger message. But this is still a super cute read that could be used to start conversations about self-esteem/self-love!

I will provide the link to my review on Amazon.com once it is approved.

Kiki the cat wants to be special. She sees her friends like ladybug, frog and giraffe who are all colourful and wants to be colourful too. She experiments with colours and styles throughout this sweet story.

This would be a fun read aloud for little ones from toddler to preschool. The message that you are special just as you are is easily understood. The repetition of text pattern also makes for a fun read aloud. I appreciated the emphasis of the colours, both in the illustrations and in their text presentation, as well as how Kiki put colours on in different shapes and styles (stripes, all over) too. The pictures are bright and fun.

My toddlers and I enjoyed reading this one! It’s a story about Kiki, a white furry cat. She doesn’t feel special and decides to use different colored pencils to add color on her fur. Going through the colors of the rainbow, Kiki realizes she is special just the way she is. The pictures are colorful and the story is easy for my toddlers to understand. Thank you to NetGalley, Clovis Publishing, and author Sam Loman for an ebook copy. This is my honest review.

Kiki the cat is pure white but doesn't like how she looks. She thinks white is boring. She begins to color herself in various ways (red squares over her ears, blue circles on her face) and asks her friends if they think she is pretty. Her friends are petty and self-centered, some barely even notice her. At the end of the book, her mom washes all the color away in the bath and tells Kiki she is special just how she is.

The idea behind the story is a good one but currently, it is being done a lot. When so many picture books about being unique and special are being written for children, you need to stand out. Unfortunately, this story was bland. Kiki's friends are awful and there's nothing meaningful when the mother tells Kiki she is special. "Get in the bath, you're special". It felt like "shut up already, you're fine" from an annoyed mom.

I did not enjoy it and would not choose to read it to my 3-year-old. There are many more picture books about the same subject out there that are far more impactful.

On a better note - the illustrations are lovely.