Angela Casabene (text) and Michelle Conn (illustrator), All you can be, Affirm Press, December 2023, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922863287 
When there’s ice cream to share
But there’s nobody there
In that place where a friend ought to be,
Lick up the drips
Find a smile on those lips…
Be strong.
Be all you can be.
What does a parent want most for their small children? Friendship. Love. Happiness too, of course. Being curious. Learning about life through making mistakes. And living their best life by trying something new.
Being all that they can be.
Casabene’s debut picture book All you can be is a love letter to a child written in rhyme. The story is set at a beach following a young girl tackling the challenges of loneliness, messy friendships, making mistakes and other mishaps. She finds her strength by being kind, content, adventurous and brave. This is a lovely self-discovery story for small children. In some ways, it’s a nod to Davina Bell’s All the ways to be smart by encouraging children to look inside themselves for their unique skills and superpowers.
Conn illustrates a diverse and realistic cast of children and captures their emotions and moods well. Each spread reflects the Australian beach summer beautifully. The ice creamy pastel hues look delicious on the aquatic blue background. The endpapers are a detailed bird eye view map of the beach which tiny readers will pore over to find each spread’s setting.
This picture book is perfect for children 4+ on their own self-discovery journey.
Reviewed by Stef Gemmill
