My Clearest Me is Very Sweet!

My Clearest Me by Claudine Gueh Yanting is a sweet book about Wynn, an adorable, quiet, and very shy six-year-old boy who carries his teddy bear everywhere he goes.  He knows he’s different from his classmates.  On this day, he overhears his teacher telling his mother that she worries he will have few friends, “Or worse!  That he will let Dreams pass,” if he doesn’t change.  Wynn wonders what he’s supposed to be. 

As his mother tucks him in that night, she assures him that she loves him no matter what.

“You are a breathing wind,

A bout that flies and flows at night.

Be quiet, be loud, between,

You’ll always be my King of Bright.”

But, still, in his dreams he wonders.  Should he be loud, like a crowd or like the bang of a drum?  Is that his “clearest me?”   Or can a shy and quiet boy, one who is like the soft music of a flute, fit in with the other children?    

This softly rhyming story is beautifully written and illustrated.  Very young children may need some help understanding the rhymes but it’s a great opportunity to spend extra time snuggled in a comfy chair with an attentive little reader talking about the meaning of the words. 

It is wonderful to follow Wynn as he discovers his “clearest me” in his dreams.  The illustrations by Sarah Quek Rui Zhen are wispy and calming, like a sweet dream and, at the same time, bright and bold like children playing and laughing.  The details of the illustrations dance beautifully with the descriptive words and the silly scenes will put a smile on your face.

It is clearly a sweet book!

My Clearest Me is available on iTunes.  Coming soon to Kindle, Nook and Sony.  To purchase a copy or for more information please visit the Carry Us Off Books website.

Watch the book trailer on YouTube.

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DISCLOSURE:  I would like to thank Claudine Gueh Yanting for sending me a review copy of the book in PDF format.  NOTE:  In the e-book, the words are separate from the illustrations for text-to-speech application convenience.