This pink missive is a 2011 publication by Erika Katz, who has worked in the beauty industry since she was three months old. She has all of the beauty chops, having appeared in hundreds of television commercials and films and has modeled as well. She is a Dartmouth grad with degrees in French and Psychology and is a mom who blogs for her website www.bondingoverbeauty.com. I really like the title because the emphasis could be on bonding more than beauty. Bonding with your kids from birth onwards is the most important connection and from that the relationship is built every day. Bonding results from sharing your areas of expertise and ways of being happy and making others happy. Bonding also happens when children develop and share their own interests and expertise. Erika emphasizes that the bond you build will last a lifetime and shows that that takes work every day. For tweens, all of her tips and home recipes for having better skin, hair, hands, feet, are great. More important are the tips about Nutrition and Fitness and how to give kids confidence to be away from home. I like her 10 Inspirations for Exercise because she talks about moms and kids doing things together. What she calls unusual, though seem like activities that more girls should be doing: boxing, dancing, yoga, mountain climbing... She does mention Wii, which would also be popular. Once again, parents can participate too. When I was about twelve or so, I went to Charm School. While I did appreciate the lessons in how to apply make-up, get a proper bra fitting and how to shop on a budget, I did feel overmanaged and manipulated into a very much older and less 'cool' image. I think this book has some great ideas for working together to improve self image but I also would like to see more about leadership, friendship, movies and books to enjoy together and active citizenship. Once again, as a mom, you have to focus on bonding and relationship building rather than focusing exclusively on appearance.
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