Preening, Painting, and Piercing

Gr 5—8—Physical beauty impacts all cultures from ancient to current times, and this book covers different looks achieved through makeup, body painting, tattoos, and piercing. Photographs, advertisements, paintings, and artifacts show a variety of cultures and time periods and help readers see the huge changes in the fashion of physical appearance. During the 1500s, women began using makeup to create the palest skin possible, and ancient Egyptian mummies give archaeologists evidence of eye makeup created from lead paint. Body art was documented by European explorers like Christopher Columbus and Sir Francis Drake. The author does a good job of explaining that some cultures have negative stereotypes of tattooed people being criminals and some piercing can be dangerous to people with allergies. Fun activities are included, but the one that stands out is in the stage makeup section that encourages children to try face painting. This book would appeal to a narrow audience, but it is well written and has few biases.—Rachel Artley, Watertown Elementary School, TN