I Can Be Anything

Written and illustrated by Shinsuke Yoshitake (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2020, 56 pp., $15.99, hard cover)

The first thing that appealed to me about this book was the cute daughter and mother family. The main character is a little girl, Natsumi, who spends every day playing with her mother.

Not wanting to go to bed one night, she plays a guessing game where she pretends to be something. Amazingly, she pretends to be a pot, a doll, a clothespin, Mount Fuji, Santa Claus, shellfish in miso soup, a baby, a bulldozer, an electric fan, some aliens, overcooked broccoli, a plate of fried chicken and the feeling of not wanting to go to the dentist.

Our cute little girl continues to play, hoping that her mother will forget to take her to bed. Her mother finally finds her poor sweetie pie tired out and fallen asleep under a bucket. She takes her to bed.

Delaying tactics at bedtime are a real situation many parents have experienced and can easily relate. I faced these myself with my then toddler daughter Annie, a master of late-night bed-delaying questions.

The illustrations of Natsumi pretending to be a rice ball and others are adorable, creative and fun.

I highly recommend this story book for others. Recommended reading age: three to five years.