Animal Beauty by Kristin Roskifte - ADVISABLE

Roskifte, Kristin Animal Beauty. Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company, 2015. $17.00. PICTURE BOOK. When Elephant stumbles across a beauty magazine, to her horror she realizes that her wrinkles make her look old.  She follows the beauty tips suggested in the magazine and completely changes her look- to the point that Zebra doesn't even recognize her anymore.  Elephant shares the magazine with Zebra, who in turn completely changes her look by changing her stripes because wearing horizontal stripes in no longer in style.  One by one, the zoo animals pass around the beauty magazine to each other and the entire zoo is transformed.  Each animal feels beautiful and up-to-date until a little boy visiting the zoo sees the animals and begins to cry.  All of the animals realize their mistake and soon everything is back to normal at the zoo.   Moral of this story: be true to yourself by dressing and looking like you want to, not how media or magazines profess you should!  This picture book could be a great springboard for classroom discussions about popularity, individualization, and having a healthy self esteem.  The artwork and illustrations are detailed and inspiring.  Pre-K.  EL (K-3).  ADVISABLE. Reviewer: SL