I Am a Beautiful Flower

I Am a Beautiful Flower, What Every Flowering Girl Should Know is about welcoming your daughter into womanhood with love and knowledge, rather than fear and ignorance. It encourages girls to understand their bodies' biology so they can build their self-esteem and worth. Reading the book together or alone is a continual opportunity for mothers, play mamas, grandmothers, and aunties to strengthen the intergenerational bond within families.

Considering the basic biology of the body, the book begins discussing the cycle of life, ovulation, uterine changes, menstruation, cramps, premenstrual changes, and menopause. Giving readers this vocabulary will help answer fundamental questions about female and male reproduction, the importance of nutrition for healthy reproductive systems, and how digestive health supports reproductive health. Then the book covers information about pregnancy, its three trimesters, and how babies develop month to month.

When Marlo Ettien's daughter started her menses, they celebrated with a Flowering Party and Promise Ring Gathering. The Flowering Party encourages young girls not to be afraid of their menstrual cycles, but to embrace it as a natural phase their bodies experience as a part of the reproductive system. It's also a comforting moment of sharing and bonding between mother, daughter, and a sacred circle of women who will always be available to her. The Flowering Party helps build self-esteem and self-worth, which cultivates more meaningful and mutually respectful relationships with boys. It may also assist in helping to curtail the national epidemic of teenage pregnancy by promoting abstinence as a method of birth control.

The Promise Ring Gathering is an extension of the Flowering Party. It is an acknowledgement of the girl embracing the sacredness of her body. It marks the first year of the abstinent young woman experiencing her menstrual cycle. It is also for the young woman who is recommitting herself to being abstinent. We need our daughters to understand the consequences of their actions before they make the choice for abstinence. The Flowering Party and Promise Ring Gathering are intimate times that mindfully nurture and celebrate the femininity of the young girl as she enters womanhood.

These empowering celebrations expand young girls' awareness so they can make sound choices regarding their bodies. With the plethora of information that "I Am a Beautiful Flower" book provides, our daughters will know that they are loved.