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Beautiful
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Every girl is unique, talented, and lovable. . . .Every girl is BEAUTIFUL.
Much more than how one looks on the outside, true beauty is found in conquering challenges, showing kindness, and spreading contagious laughter. Beautiful girls are empowered and smart and strong!
BEAUTIFUL breaks barriers by showing girls free to be themselves: splashing in mud, conducting science ex ...more
Much more than how one looks on the outside, true beauty is found in conquering challenges, showing kindness, and spreading contagious laughter. Beautiful girls are empowered and smart and strong!
BEAUTIFUL breaks barriers by showing girls free to be themselves: splashing in mud, conducting science ex ...more
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Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
September 13th 2016
by Running Press Kids
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Love how the text sounds like a how to for being a girl concerned with beauty and gender conformity while the illustrations interpret the text in a contrasting, nonconformist way. Lighting up every room means using lamps/flashlights while reading in tents. Smart style means observing, experimenting, and fixing—girls using their smarts. A sweet smile? One laced with an orange just opened with a friend.
This book shows diverse girls including kids in wheelchairs.
Beautiful indeed!
This book shows diverse girls including kids in wheelchairs.
Beautiful indeed!
I'm going to call books like this "surface subversion," I think. I'm also going to put this on my shortlist for go-to birthday gifts and the like, and I'm also going to request that this illustrator do a lot more stuff pronto, especially early chapter books.
This book is so cute! However, it's one that definitely needs to be looked at. It wouldn't work as an audiobook at all, since you need to be able to see the pictures and how they subvert the dated-sounding text. Let me explain.
The book lays out a number of assertions, which could be considered stereotypical or even offensive when taken alone:
And on it goes. But each one of those s ...more
The book lays out a number of assertions, which could be considered stereotypical or even offensive when taken alone:
Beautiful girls move gracefully.
And light up every room.
Beautiful girls know all about makeup.
And have a smart style.
And on it goes. But each one of those s ...more
This picture book is beautiful in its depiction of girls. While not really a story, there is much here that is well worth sharing and discussing with both boys and girls. The text talks about the things that make all girls beautiful. The illustrations take it a step further by showing girls doing things they love that stereotypes would say don't match the text, such as playing pirates (knowing how to use makeup) or swinging enthusiastically on their tummies while singing like songbirds. The illu
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This book has layers, like an ogre, an onion, or a parfait. ;) You have girls of all different shapes, sizes, and colors doing all sorts of different things here. Then you have the prose, which one one level goes with the picture, and on another level kind of presents biting commentary about what society expects of girls. (Example: "Beautiful girls know about makeup." The picture has three girls with fake beards pretending to be pirates. They know how to paint their faces, yes - but not in a tra
...more
Yes, BEAUTIFUL is really beautiful. This book is the perfect gift for every little girl worldwide and maybe some big girls too.
What a wonderful presentation of inclusion of all diversities, shapes, sizes and "non perfection".
A perfect example of how we should celebrate self whatever we look like and whom ever we may be.
Kudos to Stacy and Joanne.
What a wonderful presentation of inclusion of all diversities, shapes, sizes and "non perfection".
A perfect example of how we should celebrate self whatever we look like and whom ever we may be.
Kudos to Stacy and Joanne.
Really excellently done depiction of a bunch of different ways to be beautiful, with curiosity and kindness and physical prowess and friendliness. These types of books can get preachy, but I think it successfully walks the line between condescending and sanctimonious (the failure states of "improving literature") and succeeds in just being explanatory. And well illustrated.
Beautiful pictures and message.
This was a re-read, which I greatly enjoyed. Each page shares well-known stereotypes of young girls and flips them on their heads. There will be ZERO gender conformity for these outgoing kiddos! The girls are obviously very happy, curious, and, of course, beautiful!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo! ...more
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo! ...more
BEAUTIFUL! I absolutely love this book and I think it should be posted in every library and read to every little girl. As a children's librarian, I am going to make a display for this book right now :)
Sep 06, 2016
Kirsten
added it
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!
Go go feminist picture book!
Stacy McAnulty's splashes toxic gender stereotypes and societal expectation for girls on every page and then sends a wonderfully illustrated crew of "Beautiful" girls to take them and make them their own. This wonderful book shows girls just doing their thing, and what a beautiful thing that is. If you have a girl who is still young enough to have interest in picture books - get this book!
LOVE LOVE LOVE. Such a fun body-positive, pro-women book that avoids being preachy. Definitely a great read for young girls who might feel like they aren't beautiful because they aren't x, y, or z.
Great book to give to all the little girls in your family. Embraces what beauty is to each child and not to the worlds beauty standards.
What Beautiful girls should be is comfortable in their own skin.
Love the illustrations!! I still have a wee, small qualm with using "beautiful" over and over, but I do like that it totally subverts it to be all girls - tomboys, girls in wheelchairs, etc. It's as if the book took a 1940s "girls must... have the perfect look" style guide, and turns it on its ear. I especially like the pages that say "Beautiful girls know all about makeup." and has illustrations of girls dressed up as pirates with drawn on beards and mustaches, and the following pages that say
...more
Good message. Neat illustrations. The baby girl seemed to like it.
1st grader: "i like it & it's funny how they mess up their hair"
...more
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An empowering little book with smile inducing illustrations. File this under Girl Power.
I received this book in a goodreads giveaway. My receiving this book through the giveaway does not reflect my opinions of the book in any way shape or form.
This book arrived today, and I can't wait to share it with my boyfriend's daughters. Both love to read and definitely need this positive idea of beauty in their lives. The images and illustrations are beautifully done. Every shade of skin, hair color & style, and shape of a person is represented in this children's book.
Every young girl need ...more
This book arrived today, and I can't wait to share it with my boyfriend's daughters. Both love to read and definitely need this positive idea of beauty in their lives. The images and illustrations are beautifully done. Every shade of skin, hair color & style, and shape of a person is represented in this children's book.
Every young girl need ...more
I tend to like Stacy McAnulty's picturebooks and the representation she includes (intentionally or not), and BEAUTIFUL is no exception. I enjoy the dissonance between word & image, and it's clear "beautiful" refers to a state of mind and internal qualities like curiosity, bravery, adventurousness, and creativity.
We see all skin colors and even some differently abled bodies--which is great in a picturebook with such broad appeal.
It's a bit too girl-power for me; I feel like we've reached a poin ...more
We see all skin colors and even some differently abled bodies--which is great in a picturebook with such broad appeal.
It's a bit too girl-power for me; I feel like we've reached a poin ...more
Aug 15, 2016
Darshana Khiani
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reviewed,
pb-concept
This book takes the sugary, sweet, stereotypical praises and compliments for little girls and turns it on its head in a superb way! This is a must have book for any young child. I think it’s important not only for girls to see who they can be, but also for boys to realize it too.
I love the interplay between text and art. I love the energy, enthusiasm, and contentment of the girls enjoying the activities they are partaking in. This is where their beauty shines.
The large type and big illustrations ...more
I love the interplay between text and art. I love the energy, enthusiasm, and contentment of the girls enjoying the activities they are partaking in. This is where their beauty shines.
The large type and big illustrations ...more
11/4/2018 ~ All the great ways girls can be beautiful, especially if they like sports, mud, and other "non-traditional" activities. However, I didn't see any girls who like pink, tea parties, or dressing up. They need to see themselves as beautiful too. (Even though I recognize the lack of sports & mud in many books aimed at girls.
Also, can boys be beautiful? Do they have a place in this narrative? ...more
Also, can boys be beautiful? Do they have a place in this narrative? ...more
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty is a picture book that reimagines what our society thinks beauty is. In this book, beauty is not an outward appearance but an inner projection of your spirit and joy. It is about what you contribute to the world, not just your mere physical presence. If you know any friends or family members with little girls, this would be a great book to add to their shelves.
What a great book for young girls! The illustrations are phenomenal and it's the perfect length to captivate children, with such a positive message for both girls AND boys. I think this is a must-have for every parent, teacher, counselor, etc. especially those hoping to help the young girls in their life work on their self esteem.
Multicultural book entry 3:
Beautiful, by Stacy McAnulty, is a realistic fiction novel that is perfect for primary age students. Realistic fiction is a story using made-up characters that could happen in real life. This novel showed that all girls are beautiful.
Text-To-Self- Growing up, I had a lot of different friends. Some girls were tom boys, some girls like to pay in the dirt, we were all different. This book just reminded me of all of my friends when we were younger because we would play dr ...more
Beautiful, by Stacy McAnulty, is a realistic fiction novel that is perfect for primary age students. Realistic fiction is a story using made-up characters that could happen in real life. This novel showed that all girls are beautiful.
Text-To-Self- Growing up, I had a lot of different friends. Some girls were tom boys, some girls like to pay in the dirt, we were all different. This book just reminded me of all of my friends when we were younger because we would play dr ...more
"Beautiful" by Stacy McAnulty is a children's picture book that transforms common ideas of what young girls ought to be (i.e., dainty, cute, and fashionable) and transforms them into bold statements about what girls are. They are smart, unique, funny, loud, messy, adventurous, and full of love. Most importantly, they are beautiful. The words work with the books illustrations to create a vivid portrayal of girls having fun, and while doing so, being authentically, undeniably beautiful. The girls
...more
This book breaks down traditional, stereotypical ideas of beauty and celebrates all the different ways girls can be beautiful.
Picture book, fiction
by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Running Press, 2016
4 out of 5 stars
If you just read the text of this book without seeing the pictures, it sounds like someone is espousing old fashioned ideas of beauty and expected behavior for girls. For example, one spread reads, "Beautiful girls move gracefully." The illustrations show modern ...more
Picture book, fiction
by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Running Press, 2016
4 out of 5 stars
If you just read the text of this book without seeing the pictures, it sounds like someone is espousing old fashioned ideas of beauty and expected behavior for girls. For example, one spread reads, "Beautiful girls move gracefully." The illustrations show modern ...more
“You’re beautiful inside”...but kids are smart, they know the meaning of beautiful...Why aren’t boys described as beautiful?...Do you have to be beautiful?...
These were some of the thoughts that swirled in my head as I read this book.
While I understand the author’s objective, I can’t help think about how the word beautiful feels to those who aren’t. Why can’t we celebrate the curiosity, the bravery, the imagination of girls without using the word beautiful? Aren’t those things alone as important ...more
These were some of the thoughts that swirled in my head as I read this book.
While I understand the author’s objective, I can’t help think about how the word beautiful feels to those who aren’t. Why can’t we celebrate the curiosity, the bravery, the imagination of girls without using the word beautiful? Aren’t those things alone as important ...more
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Stacy McAnulty is a children’s book author, who used to be a mechanical engineer, who’s also qualified to be a paleontologist (NOT REALLY), a correspondent for The Daily Show (why not), and a Green Bay Packer coach (totally!). She is the 2017 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor Recipient for Excellent Ed, illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach. Her other picture books include Earth! My First 4.54 Billion
...more
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