This book is shiny and gorgeous, and practically leapt off the shelf at me. It is quite fitting that such an aesthetically-pleasing book deals with the meaning of beauty, and was penned by a body-positive influencer.

The story follows a young Bangladeshi girl named Zubi during her first day of school. As she goes about her day, Zubi overhears family members and the other kids at school making negative comments about big bellies, needing to go on diets, looking fat, etc. Slowly Zubi internalizes these messages, until her family realizes that all the harmful things they said about themselves, also impacts/influences little Zubi. It’s a simple message, but an important one, and the author handles it well.

I quite appreciated the representation in this story (I don’t encounter many stories about Bangladeshi families), and loved that the back of the book contains a glossary of all the culturally specific terms that were in the story.

I’m generally skeptical of children’s books written by influencers or celebrities, but “Beautifully Me” is beautiful—inside and out.