Bodies Are Cool

Starred review from April 26, 2021
“Big bodies, small bodies,/ dancing, playing, happy bodies!/ Look at all these different bodies!/ Bodies are cool!” In an act of resistance against ubiquitous, homogenous images of human figures, artist Feder (Dancing at the Pity Party) offers up an inclusive celebration of endless variation in rousing verses and group settings, including public transit, a seasonal market, and a pool. Feder employs bold black linework and a luscious palette of candy colors. Bouncy text, on each page ending with the refrain “bodies are cool,” attends people of varying abilities, ages, body shapes, religions, skin tones, and hair textures; a range of gender identities and sexual orientations are shown throughout. In one outdoor campfire scene, two brown-skinned adults snug-
gle—one shirtless with top surgery scars, the other with stretch marks and leg hair who wears a crop top and shorts. Across the spread, someone breastfeeds an infant in a hammock, and a variety of ethnically varied kids—one hijabi, one wearing an eye patch—play around a tree. With such a joyfully inclusive range of humans, all taking part in community and taking pleasure in each other’s company, it’s hard to imagine a stronger statement of body affirmation and pride. Ages 3–5.