Product Description
The fourth title of the popular "All Things Girl" book series is all about being modern and yet modest! See why parents and kids alike love the series that weaves the simple truths of JPII's Theology of the Body and Feminine Genius throughout. "What a refreshing book for today's Christian girl! "Modern and Modest" does not just show a girl how to dress and act like royalty, it lifts her up from the inside out. It's a beautiful mix of fashion and beauty for girls with heavenly designs. The authors understand a girl's heart and lead her through the basics of the fashion world. Everything from make-up to clothes, perfume, speech and style are presented in a girly yet Godly way. I love the "All Things Girl" series! What a God-send." Patti Maguire-Armstrong best selling Catholic author of "Catholic Truths for Our Children." To learn how to arrange a mother-daughter event based upon the ground-breaking series, visit www.BezalelBooks.com or www.RunwaytoReality.org
All Things Girl: Modern and Modest
Tags: book, Things, Girl, heavenly designs
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I bought this book for my 8 year old daughter (not knowing if it was age appropriate) because I started noticing subtle trends in her behavior that made me concerned that the secular culture was starting to affect her. What a pleasant surprise it was when she became very interested in this book — once she started reading it she could hardly put it down (she even asked to bring it to a restaurant to read while we were waiting for our food)! I browsed through the book before giving it to her and was very impressed with the style of writing and the solid Christian message. For example, it was suggested to examine your conscience before going to bed (which we already have taught our kids) but instead of just recalling the things you did that weren’t pleasing to God it was suggested to also think of the things you did that pleased God. I thought this was great advice especially for Christian parents who are trying to teach their kids the importance of good works in an active faith life.
Before reviewing this link, I looked to see what else was said about this book. I see two very postive and one negative. I considered the points in the negative. It seems that person missed the uplifting message and instead focused on the look of the book. I personally love the look, but I guess exterior images are a matter of opinion. If you are buying a book for the look then it’s a shallow purchase. My daughter loves the book because of the powerful message if conveys. It helps girls to see themselves the way God sees them–their natural beauty worthy of protecting and enhancing. I too thought it was short, but that was because it left me wanting more. I just have not been able to find anything else out there with such a powerful and beautiful message, so this book has my full approval.
My sisters and I (ages 15, 13 and 10) eagerly awaited the arrival of these books. As we received each one, we became more and more saddened. While they would contain a few sentences of the beauty of the Church’s teachings, they would quickly switch to fluff topics. For example, we had hoped to hear more on how your inner beauty is much more important than your physical. With such beauty, why do you need to use so much makeup or any at all? The beauty book (and the modern and modest) gives many very detailed makeup tips, (lip liner, lip stick, lip gloss, TONS of eye makeup, mascara, blush, concealer, foundation, powder, etc, etc, etc.). I do not personally think that makeup is a bad thing and certainly is not sinful, but I was hoping that they wouldn’t put such an importance on the need for it. The book seemed to promote the draw into vanity (and not how to combat it) which is so promoted by our current secular world. They do say some things like you don’t need designer clothing, etc. but that was pretty much it. I suppose I see how they were trying to bridge the ever widening gap between our Christian world and the secular world, but I still think that they had a great opportunity here that they missed using.
The other books missed the mark for us too. In Friendship, Boys and Getting Along, they say that “going with” and “having a boyfriend,” simply means that you like a boy. When they could have stressed more firmly about waiting to date, they simply say that going places alone or having boy/girl parties are for high school. While this is a common take on dating, what about the virtue building possibilities here of not stressing such an importance on feeling that one must date in high school or even earlier? While the authors often have some good things that are character building, they just as often turn back to the secular view. The other sad thing about this book in particular is how they slam boys, saying that they just don’t get “it.” Also, that when you are ready to have a rational conversation, they are still doing silly things like playing with legos.
They seem to be constantly contradicting themselves, for instance, they say that makeup should be modest (that you shouldn’t look like you have makeup on) and then they give 7 very detailed steps on how to apply all the various kinds of makeup that if followed would not look natural. And the aforementioned dating problem where they say that dating and courtship should be kept until you’re ready to find a husband and then say that having a boyfriend and “going” with a boy should be saved as something to look forward to in high school (or younger).
They do have a few redeeming factors, they talk about your dignity as a daughter of the King (the same intro is repeated in every book) and about how your situation does not affect your dignity. Also, they have some prayers, good saint stories, and an examination of conscience in each book (these are not thorough, as they only cover the sins contained in the subject of the book, i.e., friendship). They try to give advice about friendship, clothing and hairstyles, although again they are mainly secular and sometimes rather obvious.
The manners book (All Things Girl, Mind Your Manners) is probably the best book, although you could probably get a much better book on manners somewhere else. They have place settings, a fun page about manners around the world, church manners, and other general etiquette.
Modern and modest should be required reading for all our girls. Of course, requiring something makes it seem dull and like work. Instead, just share this with the girls in your life and see how they will absorb it. This book speaks their language; styles, fabrics, beauty and God….it can all go together. Girls are invited to be the graceful, royalty of God’s court that He made them to be. It is packed with helpful information while presenting it in a positive way to protect and enhance a girls inner beauty–her soul.
I had intended to use them with my 9 1/2 and 8 1/2 year old daughters. While I expected some of the material to be older, I figured it would be appropriate to speak of most of it early. I consider myself careful, but not overly-sheltering. The books start out with the same information printed on the first five to 10 pages…they mention that we are children of God, the girls are princesses, etc. Nice beginning…we were a little disappointed that they repeated so much..with so few pages, our expectation was new material.) To help you understand the series, the first book, Friends, Boys and Getting Along continues on to classify girls…no kidding…here is a list…”Snooty Susie, Loose Lipped Lisa, Jenedict Arnold, Cruel Kelly, Penny the Pouter, Jealous Josie, Oblivious Olivia, Studious Sarah, Cute Katie, Pompous Polly, Emo Emily, Boyish Brenda”. It goes on to show that each type of girl has redeeming qualities, but I can see where it might make some girls question if they are a little “less cool” because they don’t spend a fortune on their clothes. Further, a couple of these classifications describe many normal, sweet girls and could actually cause them to wonder if other girls don’t like them. I felt that I could talk through all of that with the kids, so I let that go. The message was still okay. The section in that book on boys was extremely brief, and really did not offer much wisdom or advice. I don’t believe it should have been listed in the title.
The part of the series that made me jump out of my skin, was the saint story in the Modern and Modest book. The story talks about how Maria Goretti lost her dad, and how she, her mother and her siblings moved in with another family. It says that a 20 year old man in the house repeatedly tried to molest the preteen Maria. It does show that she refused, but it insinuates that she put up with his sexual molestation attempts to make things easier for her mom….I gathered from the story that she didn’t tell her mom, and the story made that seem like a heroic sacrifice. I didn’t think this was a helpful message for any young lady. (While I know we could look for other material about this saint, this story is a stand-alone when your daughter tries to read it in this book.) Anyway, the story later described in amazingly graphic detail how he tried to rape her. It described the attempted rape and murder so well, that I could actually picture it. I am sure that there is a lot of good in these books, but for me, there WAS NOT a lot of new and helpful information…there was just a lot to explain.