I went to visit a friend one day Book

OK, I know that this is a book that is supposed to be about liking yourself for who you are, and your friends liking you for who you are, but that is not the message that is actually being conveyed here. In fact the book really conveyed the opposite message.

The book begins with Spot's so-called friends telling him/her (the book does not convey gender for Spot) and that she must move from the zoo to the circus - so much for acceptance. Deciding she is unhappy where she is in life, Spot decides to make some changes. For example, by changing into an elephant. Spot's so-called friends' response? Acceptance? No. I quote:

"you're very big, you're very fat. We do not care for you like that"

The story continues along this vein with the so-called friends criticizing Spot's every change and every move.

This is NOT a book about acceptance, rather it is one of an individual trying to improve herself and her life, trying out new ways of being that might lead to growth. Instead of the so-called friends supporting Spot's efforts to grow and change, the two children work hard to stifle Spot's efforts and keep her in the same place the the children demanded that she be in in the first place. Rather than accepting Spot for who she is at a particular time in her life, the children work very had to undermine Spot's efforts to grow and change. Rather than honouring and supporting Spot's self-exploration, the children put in a concerted effort to push Spot back into the role that they need and want her to have, and, indeed, at the start of the story the role that they insisted Spot take on.

No, this is not a story of acceptance and self-acceptance. It is one of co-dependency and the sabotage that abusers inflict on those who are working to have a better life.

What a terrible message for a children's book.