Seeking Children’s Drawings for “YOU, Beautiful You” Book!

Exciting news! I’ll soon be publishing my Body Love poem “YOU, Beautiful You” as a children’s picture book.

And I’m seeking your child(ren)’s talent to create the drawings!

When you read the poem below, you’ll see why.

But first, a bit of background…

Those who already know me, or who have followed my posts thus far, know that I’m seriously passionate about raising my daughter (who’s now 6) to feel confident and beautiful in her unique body, and to be prepared with a solid foundation to resist the pressures she’s undoubtedly going to be faced with around beauty standards as she grows up in the real world.

I know the (avoidable, unnecessary) pain that I personally went through with my body image, and I can see evidence everywhere that it’s not getting any easier for our younger generations, especially with the addition of social media and Internet trolling.

And frankly, it scares me.

It scares me to think that my bright, strong and free-spirited girl will be exposed to negative comments and criticism about her own or others’ bodies (it doesn’t matter where it’s directed, criticism and judgment still cloud a child’s outlook and cause them to develop unsupportive beliefs).

It scares me to think that she could allow insecurities about her body to hold her back from being a fully-expressed version of her magnificent self, and rob the world of her unique gifts and contribution.

It scares me that she could become so distracted by improving her appearance that she could lose sight of her true gifts, and never fulfill on her true dreams and passions.

It scares me that she could wind up heavily associating her happiness with her image, and because of that, spend her entire life seeking externally the joy that’s already innate in her.

So I wrote her a poem. A poem I could read to her over and over again to remind her of what’s really important – to help her establish a stronger foundation than I had, to resist the pressures of trying to look or be a certain way, and to avoid the exhausting pursuit of impossible ‘perfection’.

Then I realized that, the more children who hear this message, the easier a process this can be for them all, which is why I’ve decided to publish it as a bright, colourful children’s book FULL of drawings created by the children themselves.

What better way to have them focus on the stuff that really matters, than to have them create their own vivid picture of it!

Here is one of my daughter’s drawings that depicts her interpretation of the poem’s message:

I invite you to read the poem below to your children and ask them to draw a picture of themselves, in any of the following situations:

• doing something they love or excel at
• in an environment that makes them happy
• showing what they love/appreciate about themselves or their bodies
• a drawing of their “happy” thoughts
• playing their favourite game
• anything else they feel compelled to draw to depict their interpretation of the poem

Each child who submits a drawing (following the guidelines below) will receive a free copy of the  book after its launch. Their name, age and city/province/state will also appear with their drawings in the book, so they can show it off with pride!

 YOU, Beautiful You

By: Kimberley Record
(written for Eve, and children of all ages)

Each and every morning,
Before the sun has risen,
There’s a chance for you to see and feel
The beauty you’ve been given.

Before your toes reach for the floor
As you get up out of bed,
You can shower happy thoughts and feelings
Throughout your heart and head.

Did you know your WONDERFUL body is made of
TRILLIONS of tiny cells?
These miracles keep your heart a-ticking
And keep your brain smart as well!

If you don’t already realize
Just how truly special you are,
NO ONE on earth has cells like yours,
Not anywhere, near or far.

Your own cells made a body
That’s PERFECT in every way,
And that’s because it’s custom-made for YOU
To laugh and play.

It’s also been designed inside
With GIFTS unique to you.
Your job is to discover them
And make your dreams come true!

Think of the things in life
That make you smile from inside-out.
These things will give you clues to find your gifts,
Without a doubt.

Your beauty on the outside
Comes from your inner smiling glow,
And when you let your unique gifts shine bright,
Your smile will grow and grow.

Your body may not look the same as your
Friends’, sisters’ or brothers’,
But that’s because our cells make bodies
Different from one another!

Short, tall, dark, light,
Skinny and big-boned,
Everyone is uniquely beautiful,
And YOUR beauty is your own.

Healthy food, activity,
Laughter, play and sleep
All help to nourish a body and mind
That you’ll be proud to keep!

There may be days when you don’t feel
Quite beautiful enough,
But it’s only on days when you forget your gifts
That this gets tough.

When you look into the mirror each day,
And give your biggest smile,
This helps you to remember all your gifts
And splendid style!

But if in doubt, each morning there’s just
ONE key thing to do;
And that’s to simply wake up being
YOU, beautiful you.

Update December 2016: The picture eBook, FULL of children’s drawings, is now complete and available for download here. Enjoy!

(and if you and your kids love the book, I’d be so grateful if you’d share your feedback in a review on Amazon, to help spread the word)

Remember: When you shine your gifts, you define your beauty