I received a review copy from the author. No other compensation was received.

Absolutely Aggie is a fantastic book that will make you simultaneously feel as if you’ve been given a hug and told to stand up straight.  It’s a book about accepting who you are and finding the courage and hope to being even better than ever.  This book will put a mirror up to you, analyze your flaws, fears, and self-doubts and then tell you to get over it because you don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.

Aggie doesn’t fit in with the other female fairies.  She’s loud, she’s clumsy, she plays the bagpipes, she’s outgoing, her appearance is a bit ragtag, and she can’t quite figure out how to be so “perfect” all the time.  The other fairies try to help her and give her lots of advice, but as much as she tries, it isn’t for her.  She’s most content and truly herself when she’s playing her music.  But it is hard when what makes you the happiest also makes you an outsider.

Sometimes, though, something amazing happens when you keep working on what you love.  Sometimes, you get better and sometimes you bump into people that appreciate you. Fortunately, this happens to our heroine.  One night while playing her bagpipes, Aggie comes across someone who introduce her to a whole group of people where she can play her bagpipes and be her audacious self.

From Absolutely Aggie by Michelle Eastman and Illustrated by Kevin Richter.  Image used with permission.

Absolutely Aggie is for anyone who has ever felt like an outsides and quietly plants a seed of hope inside all readers that if they hang in there, be themselves, and be patient — they will find a way to thrive.  It’s also a great story for those that aren’t outsiders to get to spend some time as others who don’t quite fit in and get an idea of what it must feel like.

Lines from Absolutely Aggie stay with you long after you’ve read it, but that you’ll read it so many times you’ll truly appreciate the extra-secure binding.

This book does a great job of addressing the traditional and rigid ideas of what it means to be female (dainty, prim, proper, and polished) and showing that these ideas don’t work, and can even be detrimental.  The rhyming verse and fantastic illustrations make this story appealing to young children, but the story line and poignant phrases of truth (“How could she be good enough, with all that she was not?” and “You don’t have to be perfect, to find your perfect fit.”) make the story an important read for all.

From Absolutely Aggie by Michelle Eastman and Illustrated by Kevin Richter.  Image used with permission.

This is Eastman and Richter’s second book together.  Their first book, The Legend of the Dust Bunnies is a great book, a lot of fun, and shows the importance of being yourself and the benefits of being resourceful.  Absolutely Aggie is also about being yourself, but with an emphasis that you don’t have to be perfect.  It’s an important distinction and one that needs to be addressed more often.

Both my boys enjoy this story and we’ve read it and reread it.  I’m grateful for the binding because this book has been carried from room to room, in the car, to restaurants, and even on bicycle trips.  I’ve had to hunt down this book at least a dozen times because someone is always walking off with it.  I hope you get a chance to read this book because it’s a story that will make you smile and be a quiet reminder that really, you don’t have to be perfect to be fantastic.

Where to Get it:

• [Affiliate Link]:  Amazon.com
  • Absolutely Aggie is Free for KindleUnlimited Subscribers
• [Independent Bookstore]: Indiebound.org
• [Library]: Worldcat.org 

Author and Illustrator Websites:

• Author:  Michelle R. Eastman
• Illustrator:  Kevin Richter

More Reviews of this Book:

• The Styling Librarian
• Diapers and Day Dreams
• Littlest Bookshelf

Where Obtained: I received a review copy from the author.  No other compensation was received.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links and others are IndieBound affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase something, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Which goes to fund my family’s picture book habit.  It’s a vicious cycle, but we manage.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”