The Crown on Your Head by Nancy Tillman

I bought this beautifully illustrated book with my daughter in mind.  Since the Fall of 2012 Sophia has been extremely interested in all sparkling, shimmering and princess things.  She has also come to pretend and believe that she is a princess.  This has at times become for her a competitive exercise in which she has to be first and better than everyone.  In "The Crown on Your Head" Nancy Tillman speaks to her child/any child about the crown on her/his head and explains how everyone is special in their own way.  I hope her message that "No one's is brighter, no one's is duller" will sink in with Sophia and that she will come to recognize her own inner beauty without having to rely on being a princess to be special.  As soon as I bought this book I knew it was also perfect to share with one of my English language learners.  He had told me that he believed he would never do anything right in his life.  And I wanted to tell him he was wrong in a way that was kind, sensitive, and nurturing.  This book was perfect for the occasion.  Not only it is a great read aloud for children ages two through ten,  but it also contains language that is simple and poetic.  Its message, that we must all believe in ourselves, is one that cannot be shared often enough.  We can all benefit from noticing and reminding each other of the beauty we carry around!