The Best Children’s Books About Self-Acceptance

A girl takes full stock of her wild hair, her odd toes, and her beaver breath — and likes the whole package anyway.

A patchwork elephant paints himself ordinary gray, then discovers he preferred the colors.

A young frog would rather be a cat, rabbit, pig, or owl — until a hungry wolf explains his menu.

A loudly dressed penguin keeps being told he is odd — until odd is exactly what the colony needs.

A girl hides her love of lima beans and wakes up covered in stripes — then everything else people say she is.

A mouse who adored her long name meets the first classmates who think it is ridiculous.

A boy tries on duck feet, deer horns, a whale spout, and a long nose — and keeps finding the catch.

A chameleon who wishes he were every animal at the zoo becomes a pile of mismatched parts.

A giraffe who cannot dance the way the jungle expects finally hears a different kind of music.

A poem tells a child she is like the sun, like a dream, and like enough — without asking her to change first.

A round number decides she counts for nothing — until the other digits learn what she makes possible.

A plain pony becomes a famous unicorn overnight, then discovers fame is a terrible reason to like yourself.

A girl who has always been called big begins handing the words back to the people who said them.

A girl born without arms starts at a new school beside a Western theme park full of strangers’ stares.