Over her 17 years as an educator, Lisa Overstreet has witnessed many labels, often misguided, being attached to students and educators alike. Labels like slow, dumb, lazy, over-achiever, nerd, weirdo, the list goes on. Labels which are often applied for no reason other than someone’s perception in a moment; yet can stick to individuals for many years to come. These labels can often cause damage to self-esteem, confidence, and overall quality of life for the recipient. Thus, the inspiration to write: Labels: Who Do You See?

No matter how often we talk about not labeling people by their abilities or disabilities, age, education, race, culture or socio-economic status, it seems our minds are prone to labeling others. At times we really aren’t even aware that we are doing it. Rather than saying, Stop labeling. Lisa decided to partner with her friend, Nicole Donoho, in an effort to raise awareness and educate the readers on how to START labeling ourselves and others properly. After all, the moment you tell a child not to do something is the moment they can think of nothing else.

Labels: Who Do You See? has been developed to help parents, teachers, and counselors start conversations with their children, ages preschool to second grade, about labels. The reader will be introduced to six characters of various ethnic backgrounds and ages who have received labels. Each character has the choice to accept the labels applied to them or see something different in themselves. The question, Who do you see? is asked throughout the book to engage the readers and encourage them to take a closer look at the people in their lives. As the age old saying goes, You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

The readers will soon learn, there are good, positive ways to label those around them, including that beautiful person in the mirror.