I Am Thinking My Life

A child ponders the connection between thought and action in this meditative book by Atwater, which uses incantatory phrasing to express empowerment: “I think myself smiling. I see myself smiling. I am smiling.” Lewis’s stylish digital illustrations smoothly mix fantasy and reality, showing the brown-skinned child first drawing a house and then directing a crew of teddy bears in its construction. An element of emotional truth is introduced when the youth encounters storms, providing an opportunity for the persevering protagonist to discover a reservoir of inner strength that generates even more expansive dreams: “I can think anything!” Later shifting to affirmations of character traits (“I am powerful. I am radiant”), the book builds to a beatific suggestion of future possibilities. An author’s note concludes. Ages 3–7. (Feb.)