A Thousand No’s by DJ Corchin, while certainly inspirational in many ways, is not the book I expected when I picked this up. In truth, I was expecting something more of a comedy, slightly fueled by the image on the cover. But, this book isn’t exactly the funny story of a girl wanting to get into mischief and not being able to take no for an answer. It’s different in a good way, though. So, I didn’t quite get the amusing story that I wanted.

What I got was perhaps even better.

You see, A Thousand No’s is really the story of perseverance, of taking the downturns and pitfalls of life and every moment that someone has said ‘no’ to an idea and turning them around into something grand. It’s about building something amazing out of disappointments. And in so many ways, this is an incredible and important message to give to young children. It’s not about whether or not your idea gets a yes on the first shot, but rather it’s about how much work you put in to continuing on until your idea–or perhaps even a new idea–comes to fruition.

As a children’s book, I think it may be somewhat difficult for kids to grasp the ultimate meaning behind it. But this is something they can grow with, something they can learn from. And if parents continue to foster these ideas even after reading a book like this, that kid is going to have a bright future.

Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t love the artwork.

It was very Tim Burton-esque in its dark and somewhat creepy nature. I kept getting flashes to The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, and Coraline as I was reading. For me, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. I happen to actually hate literally all of those films (to be fair, I’ve never been one to care for horror, grotesque, and macabre). So, the slight creepiness in the little girl’s smile and the faces of many of the other children just didn’t help me appreciate the book.

I definitely wanted something brighter, something less…scary looking.

All in all, this is an inspirational book.

And it’s one that is definitely worth reading for yourself and for your children. It may even be worth it to have a special place on your shelf for it.

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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