We Are Girls Who Love To Run

Children's Bookwatch, April, 2008

We Are Girls Who Love To Run

Brianna K. Grant, author

Nicholas A. Wright, illustrator

Balanced Steps, LLC

PO Box 1179, Duvall, WA 98019

9780979851117, $17.99 www.balancedsteps.com

We Are Girls Who Love To Run is a bilingual English/Spanish children's picturebook, told in first-person perspective by young girls who enjoys running for health and for fun. "I am beautiful. When I smile, my eyes sparkle, and my spirit glows for the world to see. Freckles parade across my face. My arms and legs are graceful as I circle the track." Far more than a standard picturebook, We Are Girls Who Love To Run encourages finding joy in life through exercise, and impresses the value of self-confidence rather than allowing oneself to become obsessed with unrealistic Hollywood ideals of beauty. The colorful illustrations, done in a soft yet realistic style, show young women from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds experiencing a shared joy in running. A wonderful and uplifting story; the final page has an assortment of true-life quotes from women young and old who love to run.