Beautifully Me

Zubi is so excited for her first day of school. She knows it's a big, important day and wants to treat it as such. But as she gets ready, she overhears her mother talking about being too big, her sister talking about dieting to be pretty, and her father talking negatively about going up a size. Zubi starts to wonder if her own body isn't good and what it means to be beautiful.

BEAUTIFULLY ME is a powerful, much needed story about loving your body as is and remembering that when you're mean to yourself, you're also hurting the people who love you. This is a book that is so important for both kids and adults to read. Before Zubi overhears her parents, she is happy, joyful, and is excited about wearing something pretty for her first day of school. After, her attitude about herself completely shifts. The language Zubi hears her family using about their bodies is extremely common, and while no one intends to make Zubi feel bad about her own body, that's what happens when the adults around her express fatphobia. It is only when Zubi has an outburst of emotion that they are able to understand that they weren't only being mean to themselves with their comments about their own bodies.

The artwork in BEAUTIFULLY ME is soft and gorgeous. Zubi is adorable, and Nabi H. Ali brings Zubi and her family to life with powerful facial and body expressions to show the emotions happening. You can physically see how reserved Zubi becomes after being loaded down with instances of fatphobia, and the joy in her when she and her family make their own definition of beautiful that isn't limited to one size.

BEAUTIFULLY ME is a must have for every picture book shelf. Combatting the prevalence of fatphobia in society, Zubi's story will remind kids that they are beautiful just by being them, and fat is never a bad word.