All You Can Be

Angela Casabene (text), and Michelle Conn, (illustrator) All You Can Be, Affirm Press, December 2023, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922863287

This delightful picture book from debut author Angela Casabene is reminiscent of the Dr Suess classic The Places You’ll Go. And similarly, it would make a divine baby or graduation gift.

With bright, expressive illustrations by emerging illustrator Michelle Conn, the book is a hymn to children with the message in the title, be All You Can Be. Written in verse, the language is authentically childlike but also poetic. Each spread covers a typical childhood fear or experience, such as diving off a pier, falling out with friends or learning a new skill.

At the end of the book, we realise that the narrator is the child’s mother. She farewells her child – sailing not actually leaving the nest – and concludes with the heartfelt lines,

When you fly I fly too… So get out there. Be all you can be.

This book would also act as a great tool for discussing resilience, fears, and misunderstandings with primary-aged children.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Heather Gallagher

Read Stef Gemmill’s review here.

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