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What Makes You Beautiful: 20 Daily Devotions for Girls

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Devotional Teaches Girls the Unique Ways They Are Made Beautiful in God's Image

In a society that values physical beauty, worldly achievements, and popularity, many young people suffer under the weight of the world's expectations. The pressure to conform is especially intense for young girls who long to be accepted. Thankfully, the Creator of the world doesn't judge our beauty through these impossible ideals. Instead, he focuses on the character of our hearts—our love for Christ, our fear of him, and our continual transformation by his grace.

Written for girls ages 9–12, this devotional traces the theme of beauty to help young listeners know and love the one who created them in his likeness. Each reading includes a portion of a poem, a related Bible verse, a concise devotion, and a brief prayer. As young listeners marvel at the beauty of God, they will be transformed, learning that the more they appreciate God's beauty, the more beautiful they will become.

Written for Girls Ages 9–12: Helps the hearts and minds of young girls to know and love the Lord as their Savior Devotions on Tracing the theme of beauty, each reading features a one-sentence summary, a portion of a poem, a short Bible verse, and brief commentary by Kristen Wetherell Additional Includes a 10-day Bible reading plan and books for further study

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 29, 2025

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Kristen Wetherell

41 books82 followers

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Amanda (The Little Book Spot).
240 reviews78 followers
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September 13, 2025
This devotional offers 30 daily readings for girls (I’d say ages 12+), aiming to root them in God’s Word and what He says about beauty. The book itself is lovely—filled with watercolor illustrations and a soft garden theme throughout.

That said, I struggled with it. While I don’t disagree with the heart of the message, I felt the emphasis on beauty and cultural expectations overshadowed the depth of Scripture. I also found myself disagreeing with some of the author’s interpretations, and a few passages felt not fully scriptural, which left me unsettled. That made me hesitant to let my daughter read it on her own.

For a thoughtful breakdown, I recommend checking out Alison at @reading.in.azaleawoods, who highlights some of the same concerns with greater detail.

As a mom, I’m careful about what I put in front of my 12.5-year-old, and ultimately I didn’t feel this devotional was the best fit. (She also shared she’d rather not continue reading it.)

I appreciate, as always, Crossway sending me this book in exchange for my honest review. 🩷
Profile Image for Caroline arrow_reads.
168 reviews58 followers
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October 6, 2025
My 11 year old daughter and I have been reading from this devotional each night together this past week. It’s a beautiful book with painted, colorful flowers on each page. Each day there is one sentence summary, a poem, a verse, and commentary all laced with the theme of true beauty.

So far we have had some thoughtful discussions. Last night’s devotional was confusing, which led me to read other’s reviews. I’ve decided to pause right now to read ahead on my own before continuing.
Profile Image for Elaine Willis.
24 reviews1 follower
May 31, 2025
As the mother of a rising tween girl, I am always happy to see Biblically-rich books that I can recommend to her. This short devotional book is full of wisdom that Christian moms want their daughters to know. The book starts with a poem Kristen Wetherell wrote for her daughters. Then, each day explores a few lines along with a verse or 2 from Scripture. Journaling pages along with prompts wrap up each day.

While I’m not always excited about books that focus so much on the word “beautiful,” I also have to acknowledge that we need to get the Biblical definition of beauty down before secular influences taint our discernment. I feel like this is a great devotion for younger preteens, but it might feel too light for a teenager. It’s beautifully bound & illustrated, making it a lovely gift.

Thanks to Crossway for giving me a chance read this book ahead of publication in exchange for a review! These opinions are all my own.
Profile Image for Danette.
2,970 reviews14 followers
June 29, 2025
What makes you beautiful, my dear?
What's in your heart? Why are you here?
Is it your eyes, your ears, your nose,
The face that your reflection shows?
Or what about your favorite shoes?
Your trendy clothes in many hues?
Is beauty based on what you see?
Or who you're turning out to be?

So begins the poem that this devotional book uses as a starting point for each day's study about what makes us beautiful.

Read with my beautiful girls at lunch

2025 A book published this year
Profile Image for Brittany Shields.
671 reviews120 followers
November 19, 2025
I really enjoyed Kristen Wetherell’s book, Humble Moms, so when I saw she had written this devotional for girls, I was curious to see what it was like.

I got it to read with my (just turned) 9-year-old daughter. She’s recently grown more and more interested in fashion and accessories and all the things. I thought it would be a good time to look at what really makes a person beautiful.

The book is marketed for 9-12 year olds so she is on the younger side of that range. I think it might be better to wait another year or two and try it again. She didn’t seem overly interested or invested in taking the time with it.

Granted, it was the first daily devotional we’ve tried for her and it was a struggle to get into any kind of routine with our schedules. It felt like something I needed to do with her rather than sending her off to experience on her own. Some of the devotions seemed to require some explanation or clarification for her.

There were a lot of good truths in there for her to read and know, but some of the concepts were a bit beyond where she is at right now.

The whole book revolves around a rhyming poem Kristen wrote. Each day takes a section of the poem and identifies a Beautiful Truth like ‘God made me to know and show his beauty’ or ‘Earthly beauty will fade, but God’s beauty will last forever’ or ‘The love and acceptance of Jesus is what makes you beautiful.’

There is a corresponding verse, a very short devotion, a wrap-up prayer, and creative prompt to journal or take some other action to put into practice what was learned.

In her note at the beginning of the book, Kristen says, “This book is for us, yes— but it is all about him. The more we learn to marvel and wonder at his beauty, the more beautiful we will become.”

‘Heart’ is the heart of the book. That our hearts are being transformed by the beautiful One who makes us more like him. That it’s about what God says is true of you. That it’s about loving him, enjoying his good gifts, and following his design.

I don’t disagree with any of that. I think, especially for younger readers, it’s okay to repeat and ingrain that truth in their hearts.

But I’m just not sure what I think about this as a devotional. Maybe the younger girls don’t need a whole devotional to hear these simple truths. And the older girls maybe need more than this devotional to really understand the complexities of beauty and the wisdom needed to think about it.

There are so many pressures as females in our cultural world to see beauty a certain way. It’s hard to parse out what is true and what is not. What we should care about and what we shouldn’t.

To be honest, I think I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around what it means to be beautiful as a grown woman. So it’s hard to know how to communicate it to my younger daughters.

Where I get hung up is that we can’t ignore that physical beauty exists. How do we communicate honestly about physical beauty and wanting to be seen as physically beautiful even as we know that true beauty is within? The Lord doesn’t look at the outward appearance but looks at the heart.

Yet God made us to recognize beauty in what we see outwardly. In nature and in people. Every girl wants to be told they are beautiful. That their face and the way they look is beautiful.

When my daughter gets all fancied up and comes to show me am I not to say- ‘Wow, you look beautiful!’? Am I supposed to say- ‘Cool outfit, but remember, beauty is on the inside and what you wear doesn’t matter!’ To reject all external beauty seems to be missing something and sending an incomplete message.

I also think the conversation around modesty is always tricky. This book doesn’t address it— which is probably the right thing considering its scope is 20 short daily devotionals for younger girls— but it is another aspect of teaching our daughters what makes them beautiful and that even though their physical bodies are beautiful, presenting our bodies as objects to be admired or lusted after is not part of that.

I have yet to find a really good resource on talking about modesty. And crop tops and bikinis are somehow normal even for my 9-year-old’s grade of girls.

This will be an ongoing conversation and journey with my daughters and maybe this book will help here and there with it, but I think I need something else to supplement and inform our understanding of beauty— outwardly and inwardly.

Also if I’m going to encourage my daughter to do a daily devotional, I think I might want it to be more Scripture oriented rather than topic oriented.


Recommendation

I usually like most books from Crossway and I definitely do still recommend Kristen Wetherell’s book I mentioned already, but for some undetermined reason, I’m just not sure where I land on this one.

I think there are benefits to reading this with your daughter, but it’s not going to be a one-stop shop on explaining beauty and everything that goes along with it.

There are certainly important truths all girls should know within these pages, and it is a beautiful book. I like that it’s only 20 days and is a manageable time frame.

But I think I just wish there was a little more to it. More Scripture, more discussion. More challenges. More application. And for that, it most likely reaches beyond the 9-12 age range it was written for.

So what do I want? I’m not sure yet. Mixed feelings on this one.

If you’ve read this with your daughter, please share your experience. And if we try this one again and have a different experience, I’ll be sure to update my review in the future.

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Profile Image for Jennie.
353 reviews32 followers
May 15, 2025
Is beauty based on what you see? Or who you’re turning out to be? These two questions and more are answered in this beautiful new devotional What Makes You Beautiful – 20 Daily Devotions for Girls by Kristen Wetherell.

The book is perfect for tweens and up! I even gained some biblical encouragement from reading it, and I am in my 50s. It is the perfect book for my teenage daughter, with so many things coming at her telling her what will make her liked, popular, beautiful, etc… Thankful we Christians live by different and better standards. True beauty comes from what is inside us. Knowing this truth is so freeing! When you know this and believe it, we become truly beautiful and shine for Jesus.

Kristen put this devotional together based on a poem she wrote. She uses lines from that poem, Scripture, a short devotional, daily prayer, and action points to help you ponder and grow in truth from God. Throughout the book are beautiful illustrations of flowers and note pages to write your thoughts in. At the end of the book, she provides a 10-day Bible reading plan and book suggestions to continue growing and learning about God and His Word.

So if you are looking for truth, beauty, and goodness for you daughter or a gift to give to girls you know. This devotion would be the perfect gift to help someone who struggles with true beauty and all the outside voices this world tries to fill us with that lead us empty.

There are so many great notes I personally took from reading through it. Here are a few:

God’s word says we must start with your heart. What matters most to Him is what He sees deep within you.
Our world tells us that beauty is found in the way we look, the things we accomplish, and the people who love us, but Tod tells us we exist for something better.
Remember that every part of you is meant to know and show His beauty.
Jesus came to restore my beauty and my relationship to God.
Even as our bodies turn old and gray and wrinkly, and even as our outer selves are wasting away, our hearts can become more and more beautiful.
We often think that beauty is about our looks, but we can also think it’s about the things we do or accomplish.
Beauty is based not on what people say or do, or the things you accomplish, or how you look; true beauty is based on God’s true word.




Many thanks to Crossway Publishers for providing this book for review! Opinions are 100% my own! I did receive the product in exchange for this review and post.
Profile Image for Alison (readinginazaleawoods).
220 reviews65 followers
May 31, 2025
When I first saw this devotional, I was so excited to request it. And when it arrived—with its warm tones and lovely floral artwork—I was even more eager to begin reading it at bedtime with my nine-year-old, who was just as excited for that special time together.

While there were encouraging moments that opened the door for thoughtful conversation, I found myself often needing to pause and clarify or correct certain statements. By Day 11, I made the decision to stop reading it with my daughter after reading a quote from The Jesus Storybook Bible that said, “God saw all that he had made, he loved them. And they were lovely because he loved them.” Though this aligns with the theme of the book, this isn’t what Scripture says in Genesis 1 regarding the creation of Adam and Eve, nor does it reflect the actual language used there.

As I continued reading on my own, another example that gave me pause was where the author writes, “Jesus came to restore my beauty and my relationship to God,” and speaks of us becoming mirrors of God’s beauty. While she does touch on Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, in my view, the weight of that truth is significantly overshadowed by the added emphasis that He died so we could reflect God’s beauty. That shift in focus—from reflecting His holiness to reflecting His beauty—carries a very different meaning and weight. For me, this kind of oversimplification or redirection of the gospel message is concerning, especially for young girls navigating an already confusing cultural narrative about beauty and identity.

Another moment that stood out was the author’s interpretation of why the rich young man in Matthew 19 didn’t repent. She writes that he “didn’t see God as beautiful enough.” While it’s a creative perspective, it stretches beyond what Scripture says.

My overall concern is that several biblical truths in this devotional are either taken out of context, layered with interpretations not clearly supported by Scripture, or simplified in ways that could lead to confusion. Some of the examples and applications also felt more appropriate for an older audience. In my opinion, this devotional may connect better with girls ages 13 and up, particularly as it includes references to things like social media following, which don’t naturally resonate with most younger girls.

It saddens me to share this feedback, as Crossway is one of my favorite Christian publishers, and I have many of their books in our home that I love and recommend. But in this case, I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending this one.

Thank you, Crossway, for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

(Edited on 5/31)
Profile Image for Mandy Chandler.
32 reviews1 follower
June 21, 2025
I was so excited when I heard Kristen was writing a book for older elementary and middle school girls that pointed to Gods beauty within themselves.

I think this book is very timely and necessary in the middle of our current culture where girls (and boys) grow up having no idea who they are, being fed lies by the media and others about who they can or are supposed to be. This book points them again and again to Gods word in discovering who they are in Him and discovering what true beauty is according to the author of truth and beauty Himself.

As a book focused on “what makes you beautiful” I felt it served well its purpose on each days devotional reading being just about that, various ways God sees us as beautiful, and the beauty of God and glorifying Him with our whole selves.

I am excited to lead a young group of girls at my church through this Bible study soon and see the Lord move through His word and the ways He has spoken through Kristen’s book with other affirmations of beauty included also.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Tso.
17 reviews
June 20, 2025
This is a book for you to give the little girls in your life. It teaches them to read and ponder the Bible as well as point them to big truths that beauty is found in Christ.

I don’t like the references to the Jesus Storybook Bible in one chapter, as I find the reference and that storybook Bible theologically problematic. But overall, I think it does a good job to help young girls struggling or thinking about make up, appearance, friendships, body image, etc a reminder that were beautiful because of Jesus’s work in us
Profile Image for Maggie Raab.
76 reviews4 followers
January 7, 2026
My 9 year old girl and I had the joy of reading this together. So good for her and me🩷
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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