You Are Special, by Max Lucado, Illustrated by Sergio Martinez

            This book takes place in the village of Wemmicks, autonomous wooden people who care greatly for what others think of them. The Wemmicks award each other with star stickers for good deeds or looks and criticize each other with gray dots for not looking pretty or for lack of talent. Punchinello is one of the most criticized Wemmicks with a large collection of dots stuck all over him. He felt so bad about himself until he meets a strange Wemmick named Lucia. Lucia was strange because neither kind of sticker would stay on her. Punchinello asked her how she did this. She said that she sees the Wemmick-maker, Eli, every day in his woodshop. Punchinello gets the courage to visit Eli one day hoping to rid himself of dots. Surprisingly, Eli knows Punchinello’s name and warmly welcomes him inside. Eli tells Punchinello not to worry about the opinions of other Wemmicks because Eli’s opinion is the only one that matters since Eli made Punchinello. Eli tells Punchinello how special he is just because he belongs to Eli. Eli then tells his visitor that the only reason that the star and dot stickers stay on him is that he allows them too. When Eli’s love is more valuable than the stickers to Punchinello, the stickers will come off eventually. This is what happens at the end of the story. Punchinello begins to believe Eli’s words and one of his dots falls off. The book in which this story originated, Tell Me the Secrets: Treasures for Eternity, won the Gold Medallion Book Award in 1994.

            I would only use this book in a Christian school because of its strong Christian themes that could be controversial or uncomfortable in a public school. This book would be best suited for first through third grade because it is a picture storybook that is too detailed for kindergarteners and preschoolers to follow. I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to the whole class. This story connects really easily to God’s love for his children. Eli represents God and the Wemmicks represent humans. Because the concept of God can be difficult and too abstract for children to grasp, this story would be a fantastic way to make God’s love more concrete to young students. Additionally, since it is in a narrative format, the students will most likely remember the story better than just telling the students that God loves them. I could also engage the students in a conversation about what the star and dot stickers represent in real life. This helps the students think critically about symbolic ideas that they see in literature and how these ideas translate into their lives.