The I Can book series by Miriam Laundry is one of my new favorites. I consider myself a children’s book connoisseur, since I grew up with a reading specialist mother who fed me a steady literary diet of Caldecotts and Newberrys.  And honestly, I’d put the I Can books on the shelf next to Eric Carle and The Little Engine that Could. The incredible success of the self-published books (Miriam holds a Guinness World Record for the largest online book discussion in a 24-hour period) is a testament to the greatness of these books. The stories are straightforward enough for a child to grasp, yet at the same time inspiring to all ages. The message is simple: “I can!” When Miriam held a workshop in Canada for the Player Development kids from Sint Maarten, she sparked an idea in their minds that they will never forget.

In the book I Can Believe in Myself, Molly believes that she can’t speak in public. As she goes through the day, she realizes that many of her classmates say “I can’t” about things Molly knows they can do. She comes up with an idea: everyone should write down what they think they can’t do, shred the paper, and go for it. If you believe in yourself and try, you just might do it! During the workshop, each one of us shredded an “I Can’t” statement.

Theo, a 14-year-old in our group, later wrote in his journal:

“Coach Tom told us about Miriam Laundry. We then went to the Tennis Academy and met Miriam and we had a workshop with her. We also went through one of her books. We also got to help her choose her next book cover.”

Theo thought that getting to help choose the cover of the next book was pretty cool. He thought the concept of “I Can” was even cooler. The day after the workshop, we visited a park with a ropes course. Theo said, “Oh, I can’t do that. That’s way too high.” So he stayed behind. After a few minutes, he changed his mind. He told us that he had thought about what Miriam said, and decided to give it a try. Not only did he go all the way up, he had a lot of fun doing it!

Big King also had an epiphany:

“I saw Miss Laundry today. She did an experiment on Stacey and I thought she was acting, so I ask Miss Laundry to do the experiment on me and it did work.”

The experiment showed that thinking falsely or negatively makes us physically weaker. She called Stacey, a chaperone in our group, up to the front. Miriam put pressure on Stacey’s lifted arm and asked her to say a negative phrase and then a positive one. Stacey was visibly stronger when she said a positive statement. Big King was skeptical, so he asked to be a volunteer, too. You should have seen the shock on his face when it worked!

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” -Proverbs 17:22

The kids talked about the “I Can” concept for the rest of our Canada trip. They called out friends who said “I can’t.” They stopped themselves when they started to say it. They tried things that they wouldn’t have done before. And it wasn’t just the kids who overcame their fears! Peggy, one of the moms who joined the trip, made it all the way to the top of the CN Tower, despite her fear of heights. Talk about rising above your fears– literally!

I know these boys won’t forget the lesson, and I’m sure they won’t let the kids back home forget, either. We have every kid at our clubhouse read both I Can books, and now all the kids from the trip have their very own copy! We’re all excited to talk about what we learned and apply our new-found confidence to our lives.

If you want to get a copy yourself, you can find Miriam’s I Can series on her website. No, this isn’t a sponsored link. I just love the books and the way kids respond to them! I’m sure you will, too. Happy reading.