Celina is a young Mohawk girl who moves to her mother's home reserve. She is teased by her classmates who tell her that she is not Mohawk and does not belong because she has blond hair and blue eyes. Celina starts to believe her classmates and decides not to dance at an upcoming Pow Wow. But her great-grandmother helps Celina understand that being Mohawk is not about how she looks but about what she feels in her heart. When the drumming starts at the Pow Wow, Celina decides to dance after all.

A beautifully illustrated story, I Like Who I Am explores issues of bullying and belonging as Celina looks for acceptance in her new community.

Tara White is a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake, Quebec. She pursued her master's degree in business administration at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto and became a certified management accountant. But Tara had always dreamed of becoming a writer, so she started taking writing classes in 2002. I Like Who I Am is Tara's first published children's book. Tara lives in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Tara White's profile page

Lee Claremont was born in Woodstock, Ontario. She is of Mohawk-Irish ancestry and is a member of the Grand River Iroquois Six Nations in Oshweken, Ontario. Lee received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours) from the University of British Columbia in the beautiful Okanagan Valley. She won an Angel Award for the "largest individual creative contribution in the visual arts in the Okanagan Valley." She is a respected instructor at the En'owkin Centre, an internationally recognized Aboriginal college.

Lee Claremont's profile page

"[I Like Who I Am] doesn't only work as a learning tool, with Mohawk words interspersed with English ones, it is a life lesson.

Heart warming, sincere and full of experiences we've all had, I Like Who I Am is a must read for parents."

The Eastern Door

"An outstanding book ideal for helping grades three to six children begin exploring: 1) the concept of culture, 2) the dynamics and pitfalls associated with judging/bullying others based on their physical features, and 3) the value of taking action against bullies who judge others by how they look."

Canadian Material Review

I Like Who I Am

In this illustrated picture book, Celina moves with her mother back to her reserve. She is bullied by some of the kids who won’t believe she is Mohawk because she has blonde hair and blue eyes. Celina speaks Mohawk and her family honours their culture. However, Celina begins to doubt herself and refuses to dance at the upcoming Pow Wow. After a talk with her great grandmother, Celina has a deeper understanding of what it means to really be Mohawk. After she dances, the other kids begin to accept her, and she even begins to teach some of them the language. Includes a page on Mohawk Language Phonetics.

Mohawk artist Claremont studied at Emily Carr and currently teaches art at the En’owkin Centre in Penticton, BC. White is a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake, Quebec. This is her first book.

I Like Who I Am

In this illustrated picture book, Celina moves with her mother back to her reserve. She is bullied by some of the kids who won’t believe she is Mohawk because she has blonde hair and blue eyes. Celina speaks Mohawk and her family honours their culture. However, Celina begins to doubt herself and refuses to dance at the upcoming Pow Wow. After a talk with her great grandmother, Celina has a deeper understanding of what it means to really be Mohawk. After she dances, the other kids begin to accept her, and she even begins to teach some of them the language. Includes a page on Mohawk Language Phonetics.

Mohawk artist Claremont studied at Emily Carr and currently teaches art at the En’owkin Centre in Penticton, BC. White is a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake, Quebec. This is her first book.