I started thinking about this book shortly after the birth of my first child more than two decades ago. "Three months ago, you came into our lives," I wrote in my diary on May 24th, 1994. "Today, you're a pink-cheeked boy with big, brown eyes and a cooing smile. We want to give you the world. But the world isn't easy. Your peers will grow up in well-manicured neighborhoods, attend first-rate colleges, and flaunt the trappings of affluence. "But there's trouble in paradise. Last month, two girls gassed themselves after a party in a suburb not far from here. A local TV report documented a new fad among children called carving. Kids use acid, blades, and fire to mutilate themselves. We see young lives trashed by drug abuse, alcoholism, and depression. "At the root of this lie a sickness of the soul called self-hate. Self-hate tries to claim that I'm worthless, undesirable, bad. And out of this soul death comes that most fundamental question of existence: I.Why?"To be or not to be, that is the question. What is the answer? "Beloved child, there's nothing we want to give you more than a foundation of granite self-esteem that can stand the stresses of life. "Give me a place to stand," Archimedes said 2,000 years ago, "and I will move the world." We want you to stand on a place of unconditional self-acceptance. We want you to accept yourself without condition, and thusly to accept others and life itself without condition." Two years later, I wrote I AM NOT A BEAR for my children. I wanted to capture in a few sentences- about two hundred words- that mixture of love, self-esteem, consideration for others, and imagination that provides a foundation for nurturing strong, moral, self-confident children. Character is destiny. Even before she can read, love and words are shaping her destiny. From a good character comes all the traits that foster a life of happiness and meaning, such as decency, self-restraint, commitment, honesty, and the ability to think of others. And, as she continues her life's journey, she in turn will pass on those values to her children. This book is an anthology of my three children's books. These books are: I AM NOT A BEAR!MY ALPHABET ZOO!andSWEET DREAMS!I also have another section called WHAT I LIKE.The words are my own except for the verses in SWEET DREAMS.Thank you for reading I AM NOT A BEAR AND OTHER WORDS.