I'm Not by Pam Smallcomb, illustrated by Robert Weinstock Ages 3-5 32 pages Schwartz and Wade December 2010 Hardcover     A young girl grows sad as she fails at all the activities her best friend excels at. After an embarrassing game of Queen of England, what is left of her confidence seems to disappear. She distances herself and hides under a tree. Sensing her friend needs her spirits lifted, Evelyn sits down next to her and misspells the word “friends” in the sand. She admits, “I’m stinky at spelling.” This does the trick because after the spelling mistake is corrected (frendz becomes friends), her friend stops thinking about what she can’t do and starts thinks about what she can do - which also includes karate and baking. The two characters in I'm Not are crocodiles. The brown crocodile is nameless but easy to identify because of the pink bow on her head. Evelyn, the more flamboyant friend, is green and wears purple sweatbands around her wrists and ankles. The illustrations add humor to the story and show scenes and dialogue not mentioned in the text. For example, Evelyn is drawn wearing lampshades and bandages to demonstrate she is up on all the latest fashion trends - ‘Band-aids with pearls… Trust me!’ While the text is simple, many of the feelings left unspoken in the text are seen in the eyes and posture of the characters. The phrase from the cover - “I’m Not” - is mentioned repeatedly in the story, but it takes on a positive meaning in the last half of the book. I highly recommend this book. Pam Smallcomb is the author of several books for young readers, including The Last Burp of Mac McGerp and Camp Buccaneer. She lives in Maryland. Robert Weinstock has written and illustrated many books for children, including Giant Meatball and Can You Dig It?. He lives in Brooklyn.     web reviews   Tanya Boudreau/2011 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)