Olivette Is You

Employing uplifting first-person rhymes, performer Tortorella pays tribute to every individual’s uniqueness. The verses’ speaker is a pale-skinned child whose self-assurance models empowerment: “My name is Olivette,/ And all of it is me./ I have special powers/ To be all I want to be.” From emotions and gender to clothing choices and activities, Olivette asserts the right to be, like water, “fluid” and “ever-changing.” Further lines reinforce a message of acceptance and kinship: “We are all connected,/ Part of this great big universe./ Each one made by a higher power:/ No one better, no one worse.” Kashiwagi’s animation-style digital renderings depict an inclusive range of figural representations, including people of varying abilities, body types, and skin tones. When a final visual presents the speaker as a spectral cloud filled with a multitude of others, it aptly reinforces the book’s positive message of oneness with the world: “I am Olivette,/ And all of it is me!// All of it is you./ And all love,/ It is you.” Includes an author’s note. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)