Customer Reviews

All Things Girl: Friends, Boys, and Getting Along

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My sisters and I (ages 15, 13 and 10) eagerly awaited the arrival of these books. As we received each one, we became more and more saddened. While they would contain a few sentences of the beauty of the Church's teachings, they would quickly switch to fluff topics. For example, we had hoped to hear more on how your inner beauty is much more important than your physical. With such beauty, why do you need to use so much makeup or any at all? The beauty book (and the modern and modest) gives many very detailed makeup tips, (lip liner, lip stick, lip gloss, TONS of eye makeup, mascara, blush, concealer, foundation, powder, etc, etc, etc.). I do not personally think that makeup is a bad thing and certainly is not sinful, but I was hoping that they wouldn't put such an importance on the need for it. The book seemed to promote the draw into vanity (and not how to combat it) which is so promoted by our current secular world. They do say some things like you don't need designer clothing, etc. but that was pretty much it. I suppose I see how they were trying to bridge the ever widening gap between our Christian world and the secular world, but I still think that they had a great opportunity here that they missed using.

The other books missed the mark for us too. In Friendship, Boys and Getting Along, they say that "going with" and "having a boyfriend," simply means that you like a boy. When they could have stressed more firmly about waiting to date, they simply say that going places alone or having boy/girl parties are for high school. While this is a common take on dating, what about the virtue building possibilities here of not stressing such an importance on feeling that one must date in high school or even earlier? While the authors often have some good things that are character building, they just as often turn back to the secular view. The other sad thing about this book in particular is how they slam boys, saying that they just don't get "it." Also, that when you are ready to have a rational conversation, they are still doing silly things like playing with legos.

They seem to be constantly contradicting themselves, for instance, they say that makeup should be modest (that you shouldn't look like you have makeup on) and then they give 7 very detailed steps on how to apply all the various kinds of makeup that if followed would not look natural. And the aforementioned dating problem where they say that dating and courtship should be kept until you're ready to find a husband and then say that having a boyfriend and "going" with a boy should be saved as something to look forward to in high school (or younger).

They do have a few redeeming factors, they talk about your dignity as a daughter of the King (the same intro is repeated in every book) and about how your situation does not affect your dignity. Also, they have some prayers, good saint stories, and an examination of conscience in each book (these are not thorough, as they only cover the sins contained in the subject of the book, i.e., friendship). They try to give advice about friendship, clothing and hairstyles, although again they are mainly secular and sometimes rather obvious.

The manners book (All Things Girl, Mind Your Manners) is probably the best book, although you could probably get a much better book on manners somewhere else. They have place settings, a fun page about manners around the world, church manners, and other general etiquette.

I had intended to use them with my 9 1/2 and 8 1/2 year old daughters. While I expected some of the material to be older, I figured it would be appropriate to speak of most of it early. I consider myself careful, but not overly-sheltering. The books start out with the same information printed on the first five to 10 pages...they mention that we are children of God, the girls are princesses, etc. Nice beginning...we were a little disappointed that they repeated so much..with so few pages, our expectation was new material.) To help you understand the series, the first book, Friends, Boys and Getting Along continues on to classify girls...no kidding...here is a list..."Snooty Susie, Loose Lipped Lisa, Jenedict Arnold, Cruel Kelly, Penny the Pouter, Jealous Josie, Oblivious Olivia, Studious Sarah, Cute Katie, Pompous Polly, Emo Emily, Boyish Brenda". It goes on to show that each type of girl has redeeming qualities, but I can see where it might make some girls question if they are a little "less cool" because they don't spend a fortune on their clothes. Further, a couple of these classifications describe many normal, sweet girls and could actually cause them to wonder if other girls don't like them. I felt that I could talk through all of that with the kids, so I let that go. The message was still okay. The section in that book on boys was extremely brief, and really did not offer much wisdom or advice. I don't believe it should have been listed in the title.

The part of the series that made me jump out of my skin, was the saint story in the Modern and Modest book. The story talks about how Maria Goretti lost her dad, and how she, her mother and her siblings moved in with another family. It says that a 20 year old man in the house repeatedly tried to molest the preteen Maria. It does show that she refused, but it insinuates that she put up with his sexual molestation attempts to make things easier for her mom....I gathered from the story that she didn't tell her mom, and the story made that seem like a heroic sacrifice. I didn't think this was a helpful message for any young lady. (While I know we could look for other material about this saint, this story is a stand-alone when your daughter tries to read it in this book.) Anyway, the story later described in amazingly graphic detail how he tried to rape her. It described the attempted rape and murder so well, that I could actually picture it. I am sure that there is a lot of good in these books, but for me, there WAS NOT a lot of new and helpful information...there was just a lot to explain.

We bought the whole "All Things Girl" series for our oldest daughter. Since she is our first child, the topics were new to us as parents. The book series has been really helpful in discussing different topics related to puberty and social life. It supports our values as a Catholic family and is written just at her level (she is 10 1/2). These books have been a blessing!

Why ON EARTH does this series have ANY negative reviews??! Come on, people, this series rocks!! The saint stories are TRUE, and that's all they are. How much truer would you like them to be?

The section on boys is brief - appropriately. Personally I don't think this subject should be elaborated on, and do any parents? No. So that's good. The little that was on boys was smart, simple, and honest. They're giving you the honest truth about boys and that's how it should be! I totally recommend for those boy-crazy types out there. This will fix that!

I really loved the telling about the different kinds of kids out there in the world, and I did recognize a few. I took the quiz and I turned out to be Cute Katie. I noticed one of the reviews on here stated that it didn't seem fair; that it would make some "sweet, normal" child feel guilty! CERTAINLY NOT!! No, not guilty. This should make the girl feel SORRY for what she's done wrong and turn up loud the stuff she does right. I don't mean to make anyone upset but whoever says that sort of thing about "innocent" girls is very, very wrong. The All Things Girl series teaches every girl WHO she is and WHAT she needs to do to get to Heaven. It is truly Christ-like and every girl, regardless of her religion, should read this book, and the whole series!

PLEASE get this product!! I assure you that any tween or teen girl in your life will enjoy and learn something worth learning about her faith and herself!

This is a very good book that is geared toward younger girls. My girls are High School age and it was a little to young for them. I would suggest it for upper elementary and middle school age. It still is a very good book.

What a find! I had been looking for a good Catholic resource for my daughters who are all interested in fashion, beauty tips, media, friends, etc., but there wasn't anything out there until the All Things Girl series. These books are truly a treasure my girls love! Not only because they contain current topics, but also they contain solid Catholic teachings on dignity, vocation, saints, virtues and a plan girls can implement for their prayer life. Each book is beautifully designed with lots of color, quizes, ideas for projects, and an examination of conscience related to the topic of the book. These books are a must for every Catholic girl!

As the mom of two teenage boys, I'd like to think that somewhere out there in the universe, the mothers of my future daughters-in-law have discovered and shared with their precious princesses the wonderful new "All Things Girl" series by writing team Teresa Tomeo, Molly Miller and Monica Cops.

Having had the opportunity to review the four books and personal journal that make up this series, I'm wishing that every mom of a young "daughter of the King" would invest in this series for the her little princess. The authors of the series have managed to convey so many of the wonderful principles of dignity, modesty, virtue and true love in these books - but they've done so in a fun way that's uplifting and inspiring for young readers. Aimed at "tweenage" girls, the books tackle such sometimes tough subjects as puberty, modesty, relationships, and simply just the joy of being a girl!

Having once fit into the target age range for this series, I can say that the books' fun features, highly readable vignettes, and quizzes would have fit the bill perfectly in my own life. As the mom of boys, I'd like to think that my sons' friends who are girls could be treated to these same wonderful precepts that teach them to treasure and prize their bodies as true gifts from God, not trying to make themselves fit into society's mold of what's acceptable.

The series includes the following titles:

* All Things Girl: Friends, Boys and Getting Along

* Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...What is Beauty, After All?

* Girls Rock!

* Modern and Modest

* Mind Your Manners

* All Things Girl Journal

If you're looking for the perfect gift for any special young lady in your life, you will definitely want to purchase the series of All Things Girls books and take a peek at some of the cute All Things Girl accessories too!

All Things Girl is the book series I wish I would have had when I was an awkward, socially confused eleven year old young lady. I hope and pray that you moms of girls will share this precious gift with your daughters.

What a blessing to be able offer to an entire generation of young women the gift of knowing that each of them is uniquely created as a princess, a daughter of God, the King of the Universe!