Hello, friends! Our book today is Chameleon Can Be by Carolina Farías, a charming tale celebrating self-identity and uniqueness.

One day, Chameleon decides that they want to look at the world from a different perspective. Enlisting the help of a friendly trio of a friends – a frog, a bumblebee, and a beetle – the chameleon uses their special camouflage skills to assume the identities of other animals they admire – a lion, a peacock, a shark, a monkey, and more. Still, after trying out all these new looks, the chameleon feels dissatisfied. But perhaps the reptile’s answer is not in pretending to be someone else, but in accepting the remarkable animal that they already are.

Wild fun with a great message. Farís does a wonderful job combining colorful, humorous art with bouncy rhyming text to explore a classic theme – the search for identity – in an entertaining way. By framing Chameleon‘s numerous transformations into an interactive guessing game, and the reveals into a sort of seek-and-find, Farías engages young audiences before imparting the affirming final lesson, that being yourself is always the best way to be. It’s a very fun setup to a very satisfying payoff, made all the more enjoyable through the eye-catching art. The length is great for a storytime, and JJ had tons of laughs with this one; she especially loved trying to find Chameleon on each new page. Overall, a delightfully fresh take on a timeless theme, and we loved it. Baby Bookworm approved!

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