Hello, friends! Our book today is Extraordinary Ordinary Ella, written by Amber Hendricks, and illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell, a fantastic story of kindness.

Ella has an issue. Everyone she knows is talented at something: her sister Carmen is a graceful dancer, her cousin Kenji is a virtuoso pianist, her best friend Maria is a wizard at baking, and so on. In fact, it seems that everyone at Ella’s school is brilliantly talented at something… except for Ella. So when the school talent show is announced, Ella is excited to enter… but clueless as to what her talent will be. All week, she attempts different routines – ribbon dancing, juggling, knitting – but to no avail. Still, she can be there to support her friends, who often run into problems with their own performances that Ella is quick to assist with or solve. At last, the day of the big talent show arrives, and Ella eagerly watches all her friends perform from the audience. Yet, thanks to her grateful pals, Ella may still get her moment in the spotlight, and find that she’s extraordinarily talented after all.

Lovely. This sweet tale has a great message for little ones: we can’t all be great at everything, and sometimes a hobby or sport or artistic pursuit doesn’t work out. What we can all do, however, regardless of innate ability, is exercise “ordinary” talents: being kind, helpful, and generous with our time and resources. In fact, one of Ella’s most inspiring qualities is that she shows no jealousy or spite towards her peers, even as she struggles; they are her friends, and she wants them to succeed. It’s great modeling for young readers, showing that no matter what our individual talents are, we are all capable of being good to one another. The charming and diverse illustrations add to the warm tone, and the length is perfect for a storytime – JJ loved it. An earnest tale with a timeless lesson, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the author in exchange for an honest review.)