I am forever getting asked which books I recommend for teaching kids about ‘body image’. ‘Body image’ isn’t really a term I use except when I don’t have time to go into why I don’t like it. ‘Body image’ infers how we feel about our bodies and our experiences of being a body are shaped primarily by how they look, and that in turn is usually distilled down into concerns about shape, size and weight. And while we know that our physical appearance has an undeniable impact on how we move through the world, simply teaching kids that how they feel about their own size or shape doesn’t really do much to further liberation for all bodies.
Our experiences in our body is also so much more complex than what is visible to others; our experience of embodiment is shaped by complex mental, social, and physical factors that can either enhance or thwart our sense of agency or autonomy, if we can speak out or speak up, if we feel safe and accepted.
These are nuanced and complicated ideas to get across to the under 5 set. But, just because they’re hard ideas (even for adults), doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be exposing our littlest littles to them. Here are some of the books I’ve been reading with my 2 ¼ yr old. I’ll cover older kids next month.
I love, love, love this book. It’s colourful, rhymes, and showcases so many different types of bodies. It covers differences in ability, skin colour, size, body hair, head hair, gender and so much more. I’ve already used it with my 2 yo to discuss body hair when he pointed to my pits and said “what’s this?”. I’m ngl, it’s not his no. 1 goto book, but I feel like it has longevity and will be such a helpful conversation starter for the next few years.
Avery loves this book. Again it’s bright and colourful (which weirdly isn’t always a given for kids’ books), and beautifully articulates body boundaries and consent. It’s the story of Doug, who likes lots of different things, but he doesn’t like hugs (apart from a very specific hug from his mum). It teaches little kids that they get to say no to hugs and kisses, and that they should always be given a choice. It also teaches them that other people have body boundaries that we need to be respectful of. I think this is also a great one for other adults in your kids’ life who aren’t *getting it* to read to them.
Everyone is obsessed with Aria’s hair. They all want to touch it. Fed up of having her hair fetishised and treated as a curiosity, Aria tries to run away from the prying hands of others. But she gets lonely on her own. She needs to find a way to get people to back the fuck off and respect her body boundaries. This is a charming story about finding your voice and speaking up for yourself. This is a great book for talking about consent, race, and natural hair. Probably slightly too old for A yet, but can see him becoming more interested as he gets older.
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