The Perfect One - Sue Lancaster - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Sue Lancaster

ILLUSTRATORS: Rocio Caputo & Diego Vaisberg

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: “The perfect one” to read with children who either are or are siblings of perfectionists. Has lessons for kids as well as parents. Cute illustrations as well.

Story Synopsis:

Cami and Isa are sisters, looking alike, even sounding alike. But do you think they are alike? Not at all! Cami is a perfectionist, always preparing for and completing any activity well in advance. Isa, on the other hand, is more of a "good enough-ist", tackling every task only at the last minute and bothering only about completion than about perfection. Which of them is doing the right thing?

Through this simple story, the book highlights the positives and negatives of each of their approaches and shows how there can be a realistic middle ground without any major compromise. A balance between 100% stress and 100% relaxation is essential for children to learn, and this book offers a practical life lesson to them in an understandable way.

Sometimes, it is children who are perfectionists. But most of the times, it is (imperfect) parents who expect children to be perfect at everything. I hope this book also instils in such parents a gentle reminder about how much stress they cause to their child by demanding perfection.

As the girls are siblings, the story also highlights how common genetics don’t guarantee matching personalities. A similar nature-plus-nurture environment can still result in diametrically opposite personalities in children. The mother in the book doesn’t compare her daughters with each other – another important point for parents to remember.

At the end of the book, there is a note from the author on what perfection means and how to recognise signs of perfectionism. This is aimed at parents as well as children. There is also a list of simple stress relieving techniques and some positive self-affirmations.

The story is written in simple prose, with 2-4 sentences on each page. Almost every page has a couple of words/phrases highlighted in bold. While many of these are accurate indicators of enthusiasm/shock, enabling readers to stress the word differently while reading aloud, the remaining highlighted words don’t really make much difference if intonated with greater stress.

I like the author’s decision to give distinct-sounding names to the siblings. Cami and Isa look similar in the book, but their names make it easy for readers to recognise who is who. I dislike books that have similar-sounding or rhyming names for siblings – they become so tricky to distinguish!

The cover art depicts how cute the illustrations are even within the pages. The personality of both sisters comes out well through the sketches. The artwork is inclusive as well – a lovely bonus.

All in all, a good story for little ones who need to find the balance between obsessive perfectionism and indifferent preparation. The book is aimed at children aged 4-6 years, but it will work well for slightly older readers too. It will be a great addition to classroom libraries as well.

This book, as with all Mayo Clinic Press Kids books, is written in partnership with paediatric experts. Proceeds from the sale of every book go to benefit important medical research and education at Mayo Clinic.

My thanks to Mayo Clinic Press Kids and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Perfect One”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.