Author: Dr R. MacConville
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 978-1-78592-459-0
Price: £14.99
Dr Ruth MacConville is an educational consultant and author, with extensive experience in a range of special and mainstream settings. She regularly contributes to national conferences on the subject of body image and on promoting social and emotional health and wellbeing in children and young people.
In this book, her third publication, she aims to promote body confidence in young children, based on her understanding that very little practical advice and guidance was available to early years practitioners.
In the opening chapter, the author outlines the key characteristics of positive body image, and these include aspects such as body acceptance and love, broad conception of beauty and listening to and taking care of the body.
The resilient child who is body confident is characterised as one who can say:
- I have ( a strong sense of belonging, family and friends)
- I am ( character strengths and personal qualities)
- I can ( a sense of mastery because of a child’s skills , talents and abilities)
This is linked to three core beliefs:
- Children matter as individuals
- They have real strengths to rely on and share
- They can learn from failure
MacConville also provides information about a number of initiatives to support healthy habits for positive self-esteem and body confidence. These focus on the importance of ensuring that children are encouraged to establish healthy lifestyle habits through exercise and a healthy diet.
An excellent and well-researched book.
Author: Mary Mountstephen
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