Authors: IrisPelton-Hamlett and April Pelton

The I Am, I Can, I Will Workbook, written by Iris Pelton-Hamlett and April Pelton, is a companion guide to how best to use the two authors’ self-affirming picture book I Am, I Can, I Will. While Iris Pelton-Hamlett is a Guidance Counselor, Mental Health First Aid Trainer, and former ELAR Teacher, April Pelton bills herself as a kidpreneur and author. The workbook is aimed at building foundational reading skills and positive character traits.

After an introductory monthly and weekly learning calendar and weekly checklist with a sample guide and helpful reading tips, the workbook is divided into two sections, namely one on building phonics skills and one that serves as a guide, as well as providing activities related to the development of social and emotional learning skills. The phonics skills section consists of: Letter Tracing (in which the child reader is encouraged to trace both the capital and the small letters of the alphabet);

Sounds and Alphabetical Order Placement (in which the reader has to fill in the next letter in the alphabet numerous times, and to identify beginning letter sounds); Vowels (Short & Long) (requiring insertion of the missing letter, circling of the correct word for each picture and recognition of the long A, E, I, O, and U sounds); Word Patterns (focused on the long vowels) and Sorting (which requires the child reader to sort words into the right category and to write them inside boxes); Blended Letters (which shows how to build words using letter blends); and Word Scramble (containing Identify the Object and Scrambled Letters exercises) and Word Search (requiring searching for the word given alongside a number of pictures).

The social and emotional learning skills section consists of: Being Positive is Key (encouraging children to use affirmations daily to affirm who they are and what they can do, and to express their character, as well as showing them how to replace negatives with positives); You Have a Growth Mindset (which motivates children by telling them that they were created to grow and that they have superpowers); Kindness Matters (exhorting children to be kind so that they can stay healthy and to practice random acts of kindness daily); and Having Character Counts! (which identifies good character traits, provides a basic word search, and encourages the child reader to write about things that they do that represent good character traits (I am responsible/respectful/kind when I …). A number of pictures to color in are also included in this section. The I Am, I Can, I Will Workbook ends in a definition match activity.

The bright and cheerful I Am, I Can, I Will Workbook, which is in full color throughout, should encourage children to interact with its pages in a meaningful way that should reap much benefit for all concerned. I loved the joyfulness of it all, and how young readers are encouraged to relate to their immediate surroundings so positively. The workbook has stand-alone potential, quite apart from its primary intention of supporting the learning experiences provided in I Am, I Can, I Will. In fact, it could be used to enhance the reading experience of any picture book geared toward children of the target market’s age. The I Am, I Can, I Will Workbook is a life-enhancing, thoroughly joyful text that deserves to find a place in any home or school that caters for the early reader.