Janette Nakoa — home

New picture book · Baby to 12 years

Who Am I?

“Like you, and different at the same time.”

Meet Nico — curious, funny, full of energy, and a boy who notices things other people miss. A story about being understood, written and illustrated by Janette Nakoa.

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Signed copies direct from Janette are coming soon.

Cover of "Who Am I?" by Janette Nakoa — a smiling child with curly brown hair, wearing a red shirt and orange trousers, waving hello against an aqua watercolour background. The title is lettered in bright green.

A child describing himself, in his own words

No diagnosis, no lecture

Nico tells you what he loves and what is hard in the same breath — the way children describe themselves before adults teach them to rank the two.

Stop, think, then act

One broken vase becomes a strategy rather than a punishment, and Nico does the growing himself — with patient parents, a plan at school, and teachers who understand him.

It ends with the reader

The last page hands the book over: four questions asking who you are, what you love, what is hard, and who helps you.

Look inside

An animation of the book Who Am I? opening. The cover turns to page 1, where Nico says hi, surrounded by the things he loves. Page 1 turns to page 5, hands drawing on paper: "It's hard for me to focus, be patient, and work independently at school or home," and page 9, Nico with the butterfly life cycle: "It's hard to concentrate in class." Then the back cover, and the front cover again.
  • Interior page: Nico waves and says "Hi! You can call me Nico. I'm like any other kid — like you, and different at the same time. I'm friendly, curious, funny, full of energy, and I notice things other people miss." Around him float popcorn, comic books, an atom, a rocket, a magnifying glass, a slice of pizza, a handheld game, and footballs.
  • Interior page reading "It's hard for me to focus, be patient, and work independently at school or home." A child's hands draw a heart, a stick figure and letters on a sheet of paper, surrounded by crumpled balls of abandoned paper.
  • Interior page reading "It's hard to concentrate in class. During a math test, I could hear kids playing outside. Then I started thinking about a book I read about butterflies instead." Nico stands beside a diagram of the butterfly life cycle — egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly — on a warm yellow background.

About Janette

Janette Nakoa is a mother of two and a graduate of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work with a minor in Psychology. She has worked with children and youth facing emotional and behavioural challenges, and with their families.

Read more about Janette