Raising Body-Confident Daughters: 8 Conversations to Have with Your Tween

by Dannah Gresh

Our society idolizes the body, creating a body-consciousness in girls that can lead to eating disorders, body-image issues, and more. This book outlines the conversations every mom needs to have with her eight- to twelve-year-old about becoming body-confident. With these helpful tools, you can teach your daughter to care for her body while emphasizing the care of her spirit.

Use these eight biblically based conversations to guide your tween into God’s purpose for her body—to glorify him—and how that relates to practical concerns as…

embracing the physical changes of womanhood
caring for her own hair and skin
developing healthy habits of nutrition and exercise

You’ll find examples of scripted conversations, ideas for planning fantastic dates with your daughter to enhance those conversations, and even fun recipes to try together—everything you need to help her become the body-confident young woman God created her to be. You’ll even find some encouragement for your own body-conscious moments.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Unfinished

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

Dannah Gresh, a mother/daughter communication coach, has sold well over three quarters of a million copies of her books—including And the Bride Wore White and 2008's best-selling CBA youth book, Lies Young Women Believe (coauthored with Nancy Leigh DeMoss)—making her one of the most successful Christian authors targeting teens and preteens. With the belief that today's culture has been seeking to rob little girls of their innocence, Dannah has been fighting on the front lines to protect them. Her fun line of Secret Keeper Girl mom/preteen daughter connecting resources and live events that tour the country provide moms with just the right tools to fight back. She has long been at the forefront of the movement to encourage both tweens and teens to pursue purity and is often called upon to defend the conservative position of abstinence in national news media like USA Today, Time, Chicago Tribune, and Women's Wear Daily. She is also a frequent contributor to FamilyLife Today, Midday Connection, and Focus on the Family. Dannah lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bob, and their children, Robby, Lexi, and Autumn, whom the family adopted from China in 2007. She and her husband founded Grace Prep, a new model in Christian high school education, which Bob administrates. She is shamelessly in love with her labradoodle, Stormie. (DannahGresh.com)

Reviews

[Cassiejoan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm struggling with how to rate and review this one. I appreciate the author's heart and love that she calls out legalism in parenting. I think she raises some good talking and thinking points for parents of tween girls. However, if you have been parenting a girl for 9-12 years already, I hope that you have had a lot of these conversations (to a certain degree) before now! Some of these "conversations" are pretty foundational, and if you wait for *one* culminating conversation to address them, that isn't going to be enough. Some of the ideas seemed outdated or cheesy (the book is from 2015) and I was disappointed that a book dealing with health and wellness called for so many fake foods, but that is a personal pet peeve. Again, I do really appreciate the author's heart and will look at some of her other books, especially the one for tweens regarding personal hygiene as that is a tricky subject these days!

[Denise Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some good helpful things that I hadn't thought of before and will be using some information to help guide my daughter.

[Christie Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much full of stuff we already know and do. Nothing new.

[Kristen Rosener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent content, but it wasn't what I was looking for or expecting. This book is very similar to "It's Great to be a Girl" and even references it in many of the chapters. I was looking for a more in-depth book on addressing eating disorders, body dysmorphia, overeating, obsession with outward beauty, etc. White it has godly truths that need sharing, "Raising a Body-Confident Daughter" was more of an overview of the "how" and the "why" God made our bodies. Again, an excellent book that I recommend, just not what I was looking for.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book Love the companion for Payton "It's great to be a Girl"
Great conversation starters