Hello, friends! Our review today is Me, Myselfie & I: A Cautionary Tale by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell, a story about learning to balance digital and real life.

The unnamed narrator’s mom is a bit old-fashioned, so her family surprises her with a smartphone to bring her into the age of technology. Mom finds that she likes her new toy, especially “selfie culture” – taking photos of herself with family members and friends and sharing them with the world. At first, this is fun – it inspires mom to document and share all the fun things they do together as a family. But as time goes on, the obsession with documenting everything becomes a problem. Her life begins to revolve around her selfies and the promise of going viral – until her daughter steps up to confront her on her snap-happy ways.

Very interesting. I was a little wary of what the message would be in this one – after all, I’m a mom and blogger twice over – but I was happy to find that the central message encourages balance of digital vs. real life (rather than abstinence), which is absolutely something that every family needs to discuss in this day and age. Indeed, the story both celebrates how fun having an online presence can be, yet cleverly integrates how those “likes” can quickly become addictive and throw priorities out of whack. In this way, it’s a great way to both inspire conversations about responsible social media use with little ones while also reminding parents to set good examples of this balance themselves. The bouncy rhymes flow nicely for the most part, and the colorful, chaotic drawings perfectly express both joy and frenzy as the story unfolds. The length is good, and JJ enjoyed it. A modern cautionary tale with both wit and weight, and we liked 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.)