Is there a Secret to True Beauty?

     I saw firsthand recently how early the focus on “looks” begins. When I arrived at a salon to get my hair cut, I spotted a young boy in a chair, his hair being styled so the number “1” would stand out on the back of his head. The grin on his face told me how important this was. Later, the stylist told me that young boys are even more conscious of their hair than girls.
     Body image among kids is a big deal. Take the issue of weight. I’ve read that 81 percent of ten-year-olds in America are afraid of being fat. By teenage years more than half of all girls are on a diet or think they should be.
     This made me frightened and angry enough that a few years ago I wrote a children’s book for my grandkids about our airbrushed society. I didn’t want them to fall prey to this pressure.
     In the book, a little brown hen named Emma thinks she’s homely. She undergoes a ridiculous makeover where she’s nipped, tucked, snipped, and liposucked. She’s crowned Miss Poultry and becomes cover bird of the Barnyard Gazette with a centerfold spread. But is she happier?
     No. As we all must discover, outward appearance doesn’t equal inward happiness. The stakes are high: either we develop a healthy self esteem, or we keep bobbing around the choppy waters of others’ opinions.
     I’ve just re-released “Hooty McTooty Discovers True Beauty” in paperback, ebook, and hardback. Through its Seuss-like rhyme and sophisticated humor, kids and adults share good laughs while entering the topsy-turvy world of self image. You can join Hooty’s campaign for a positive self image by exploring the book here.