I Celebrate My Voice is a fun and lovely introduction to what it means to use your voice.
Welcome to the March 1st stop on the blog tour for I Celebrate My Voice by Nonku Kunene Adumetey with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Interview
How many books have you written?
I have written and published two books: I Celebrate My Skin and I Celebrate My Voice.
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
For my new book, I Celebrate My Voice, I enjoyed writing the animal comparisons. All the animals I added to this book made it so much fun and celebratory.
Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?
My children. They are part of the book and my stories because I want them to see themselves in books.
What inspired the idea for your book?
My experiences in life. My children, family, and friends.
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
I dance like crazy. It’s usually a run and scream to my husband, followed by another “YAS” scream, then a crazy dance and a nice relaxing walk or binge on a show or just do something completely brainless.
When was the last time you Googled yourself and what did you find?
Let me think about this one… Yesterday! With the book launch coming up, I find myself Googling so much— the book, my name, what’s out there 😊. I didn’t find anything new.
About the Book
I Celebrate My Voice: It is Limitless
by Nonku Kunene Adumetey
Illustrated by Mary K. Biswas
Published 11 January 2022
Nonku’s Corner Publishing
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 37
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
I Celebrate My Voice is a fun and lovely introduction to what it means to use your voice. With breathtaking illustrations, this book shows young children how limitless their voices are. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from – you have a voice and it matters.
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My Review
My Rating: 3 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads
I was granted complimentary access to I Celebrate My Voice as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
I Celebrate My Voice is a picture book about discovering what your own voice is and how to make it heard in the world. I love the message this book is trying to express, the inclusion of BIPOC and disability representation, and how easy this book is to read. With a single line per page in large, bold text, this is an excellent toddler book or introductory reader.
For the kids this book is meant for, the illustrations are bold, beautiful, and interesting. They will definitely hold attention and be enjoyed time and again on repeat readings. As an artist and illustrator myself, however, something feels off. This looks like photos pulled into Photoshop, painted over to look like drawings, with the real photo’s background blurred and used in place of an illustrated background. It was clear that the faces are photos, and that’s fine, perhaps the characters are based on friends and family of the author that they wanted to be included. Some other elements really made me raise an eyebrow, though. The page with the sparklemuffin spider, in particular, has hard edges where the blurred background was tiled to fill more space.
Overall this is a cute book that’ll entertain small kids and introduce an important concept.
About the Author
Nonkululeko Kunene Adumetey (also known as Nonku) is an award-winning author, loving wife and devoted mother of two happy toddlers. Her children both love singing, story time, and tasting home-cooked cuisines. When Nonku tastes delicious food, she hums a blissful tune, which she never realized until both her children started humming along.
Nonku was born in the Kingdom of Eswatini, where she lived until she was 16. She left to complete high school in Canada and later moved to the United States to pursue her college education.
Her passion is to inspire her children and all children to celebrate who they are, understand their differences are beautiful, know their diversity is a strength, and believe their voices are should be heard.
Her hero is her late father, Themba Micah Kunene, a man from humble beginnings who worked tirelessly to provide a full life for his eight children. Her father’s unconditional love, wisdom, selflessness, and work ethic inspire the core of Nonku’s principles and life mottos. One of his favorite mottos was “umtsentse uhlaba usamila”, a saying about a strong grass that gets deeply rooted during its early stages of development. The essence of this saying embodies the core of early intervention and teaching young minds early so that they grow up strong and informed about the world. This is what inspires Nonku to write children’s book, to inspire and empower young minds for a greater future.
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Giveaway Alert!
Enter to win signed copy of I CELEBRATE MY VOICE (one winner) (USA only) (ends Mar 11)
I CELEBRATE MY VOICE Book Tour Giveaway
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