We are so excited that The Body Book launches today! This is our second book with Vancouver-based author and artist Roz MacLean, who also wrote and illustrated Violet’s Cloudy Day.

This book is for young children, but it tackles some hard-hitting topics that we face as adults. The Body Book is especially important in our world and in our society, which constantly challenges people to live up to unrealistic and even unhealthy expectations. Body image issues have and will affect most of us at some point in our lives. And these issues can have long-lasting results in the form of mental illness and eating disorders.

It’s almost impossible to ignore the beauty standards that we are bombarded with—celebrities, dieting schemes, even Disney princesses. Children are exposed to these ideals as soon as they’re capable of watching television and movies, and looking through magazines. Many young girls grow up with the wish to sport a waist as tiny as Barbie dolls, and many young boys face equally daunting expectations to be as muscular as their action figures. They question why they’re different. And worse, they sometimes go to extremes to ensure otherwise.

Many children have the tendency to vocalize when they notice something different about someone. It may not even be intentional bullying, but it hurts, and it sticks in the mind of the targeted child. But other times, kids are inspiring. Children can be incredibly inclusive and tolerant to others who may appear different.