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This past Christmas, I found a picture book I just couldn’t pass up for my daughters or my nieces. Every little girl longs to know they are beautiful, but what exactly does that mean? Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty provides a great answer to that question. (And for a chance to win a copy, check out the end of this post!)

Beautiful

What I love most about Beautiful is that it doesn’t define beauty as something external. Beautiful is what you do and who you are. This book depicts girls playing outside and getting dirty. It shows them studying insects and playing instruments. It shows them playing sports and playing make-believe. And it will show your girls they can be beautiful just the way they are.

I also love the diversity of the girls in this book, both of ethnicities and abilities. Beautiful can look like each and every girl who picks up this book.

And this book is fun. Each statement about beauty could be taken in a traditional sense (having to do with appearance), but the illustrations reveal the true meaning.

It also makes for some interesting conversations. When we first read it, my four-year-old told me the girls with mud on their faces weren’t beautiful because they were dirty. What a great opportunity to tell her that beauty isn’t about what you are wearing or if you are messy, that she wouldn’t be any less beautiful if she had mud on her face.

Brave

I just found out that McAnulty’s new book, Brave, comes out today! I haven’t seen it yet, but Brave is a companion book to beautiful showing how kids can be brave in a variety of everyday circumstances.


Giveaway!

And now for your chance to win a copy of Beautiful. Giveaway will close October 16, 2017, at midnight central.

 

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