The fabulous girls' book: Discover the secret of being fabulous by Veena Bhairo-Smith

Scholastic, 2011. ISBN 9781741699128.
(Ages: 7-12) This book is full of tips and ideas for girls to be fabulous. They range from ideas on how to make love-heart clips, tiaras and an antique silver trinket box to doing your own pedicure in a professional way.
The article on how to make afternoon tea intrigued me, and it had a lovely recipe for strawberry shortcake. The pedicure article was also informative as was the one on making a skirt from a pillow case, which could also have been adapted to making a skirt from a piece of trendy material. The article on writing your first novel would also appeal to thoughtful would-be authors. How to be your own personal trainer described exercises that would tone the body to make it look good.
All were written in point form and were easy to read and follow. The illustrations were also cute.
I was disappointed that the book did not present much in the way of tips to becoming a great leader or sportsperson. Instead it concentrated mainly on the rather stereotypical view of being fabulous for a girl: cooking, handicrafts and looking good.
Pat Pledger