Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty--Angela McKenzie

Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty

Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty is all about a woman who is very beautiful in every aspect except she has a beard. However, since Ms. Rubinstein has a beard no one sees her beauty until she meets Mr. Pavlov who no one notices because of his elephant trunk. They see each other's beauty and fall in love.

I think this is a very cute book to introduce to children. Although the title may appeal to girls I think the book can appeal to both females and males because of the characters being both male and female but also the circus theme usually appeals to all children. On top of appealing to both genders the book sends a great message in a fun and creative manner. It lets children know that it is ok to be different. I love that it encourages children to like people who are different and gives children who feel out cast a sense of hope that they are wonderful people and will be noticed and that they can fall in love too. The illustrations aren't amazing but they are very eye catching because of all the reds and blacks the illustrator uses.

I think this book would be ok for a classroom but not my first choice. It is a very serious book and may lose the attention of some of the boys because the whole first half of the book talks about Ms. Pavlov. Also, I think that if you use this book with the wrong age group children won't be able to relate to the charters because they are so old. Nonetheless, the book does send a very important message to children that I really like. So, in my opinion I would have this in my class library and encourage children to pick it up but probably not use it as a class during story time.

Montserrat, Pep. Ms. Rubinstein's beauty . New York, N.Y.: Sterling Pub., 2006. Print.