Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (2009). Looking like me. New York: Egmont USA.

I am a daughter, a sister, a student, a writer..........

Walter Dean Myers introduces us to a picture book really evaluating the importance of self and identifying who are as people.  This is a very whimsical rhythmic piece, introducing Jeremy, a young black man, who is slowly learning all of the different roles he takes on in his society.  He learns from his family, friends and mentors as to whom they perceive him as.  Jeremy finds out he is much more than just a young man, but an athlete, speaker, dreamer, photographer, etc.  

This book would be great as a read aloud in a second or third grade classroom, possibly even done eventually as a choral read with the whole class. 

This story is wonderful to have students question themselves as to who they think they are in their community.  Self can be a lacking topic, and I think it would boost the feeling of self worth after reading a book about a young man who finds at least ten different roles he sees himself in.  The main character was a very energetic person, and his interactions with the other characters were fun and engaging.   All characters in the book were portrayed fairly, and brought a unique fresh breeze on how we look at cultural literature.  

What's inside?

Myers uses onomatopoeia within the first few page of Looking Like Me.

He put out his fist.  I gave it a BAM! He said, "Jeremy!"  I said, "That's who I am."

Personification:
In this story, Jeremy describes his grandmother's jewelry, as almost if they are a crowd of people celebrating him. 

Grandma's rings and bangles gave such a noisy BAM!  They were really celebrating the kind of guy I am. 

Rhyme: 
Looking Like Me is very rhythmic, almost like a song which is accompanied by using the tool of rhyming. 

"I'm a city child. I love the dizzy heights, the concrete, the steel, the bright neon lights."
This is a theme throughout the entire book, and keeps the flow moving along beautifully.

The illustrations used in this book are very wild and colorful.  When you view it, it is almost like a music video accompanying this lyrical text.  They compliment each other very nicely, and you find yourself rocking from side to side as you read aloud and enjoy the pictures. 

How can we use this?
Rhyming is such a large part of this piece, I think it would be a perfect example to challenge students to write their own poems using rhyme.  As a classroom, you can brainstorm rhyming words and have your students use them to spark interests in writing their own fun rhythmic poems.