Big Bold Beautiful Me: A Story That’s Loud and Proud and Celebrates You!

Body positivity shines through a jaunty rhyming text from Yolen and Stemple-Piatt, in which a cast of children—portrayed with varying abilities, body types, and skin tones—each embraces their embodiment, introducing a feature that others have commented upon. “Some kids gawk at my legs and my thighs,/ ’cause they’re thick like columns/ that reach to the skies.// But they help me jump, even higher than my sister,” offers one child flying high on a playground swing. Individual examples are then followed by the hearty refrain “When I look in the mirror,/ what do I see?// Big and bold and beautiful me!” Burgett’s images effectively use mirrors to depict the kids’ attitude shifts as they share their stories—from initial peering to celebrating their own reflection. As the expressive children, one by one, gather to play at a nearby park, readers may well be feeling the cheerful undercurrent of affirmation and support. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)