Don’t you ever sit in the library and think, “This is alright, but what we really need are some books about plastic surgery for kids.” No? Odd. I’m pretty sure most of us have come upon this common problem: how do we explain our new breasts, our oddly arched eyebrows, or our creaseless faces to our four-year-olds? Granted I don’t have kids, but when I think about the future and all the worries modern parents have, I can’t help but stress at the thought of explaining my collagen lips and Nicole Kidman-esq forehead to my hypothetical daughter.

Luckily this problem has been taken care of: Doctor Michael Salzhauer, plastic surgeon to the stars (and your mom) has taken the burden off our shoulders and the fat off our guts. He’s written a new book for kids called “My Beautiful Mommy,” which aims to explain plastic surgery to the youngsters.

When she was pregnant with her son Junior, who turns nine this month, Gabriela Acosta ballooned from 115 pounds to 196. Acosta lost the weight but wound up with stretched, saggy skin. Even her son noticed it. He told her that her stomach looked “pruney,” the result, he thought, of staying in the shower too long. So the 29-year-old stay-at-home mom scheduled a consultation with Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Bal Harbour, Fla.

Acosta told Salzhauer that she wasn’t sure how to talk to her son about the procedures she was considering. That’s when he showed her the manuscript for his children’s picture book, “My Beautiful Mommy” (Big Tent Books), out this Mother’s Day. It features a perky mother explaining to her child why she’s having cosmetic surgery (a nose job and tummy tuck). Naturally, it has a happy ending: mommy winds up “even more” beautiful than before, and her daughter is thrilled.

[From Newsweek]

Though it seems like a sad comment on our times – or at the very least, a semi-ridiculous attempt to make money with an unnecessary book – Newsweek talks to several experts who say it’s actually a pretty good idea. Plastic surgeries and “Mommy Makeovers” are more common today than ever – like it or not. Kids do notice those things – especially when mommy comes home looking like she just got beat up. That can be pretty scary, and when you don’t honestly explain what happened, children fill in the details on their own.

Child psychiatrist Elizabeth Berger, author of “Raising Kids With Character,” likes the idea of a book for kids. “If the mother is determined to pursue cosmetic surgery, I think it’s terribly important to discuss it with the child,” Berger says. But she says the book is incomplete. She wishes that the mom had just said something like, “This is silly, but I really want it anyway,” she says. “That is more honest and more helpful to the child.”

[From Newsweek]

Berger also notes that young kids are “concrete” and “sensible” – and know that you generally go to a doctor when you’re sick. It makes sense to share what’s really going on. Yet it’s hard to step away from the vanity of the book too. The implication that something is wrong with mommy – and that her natural body isn’t good enough – can obviously make a child think there’s something wrong with her own body. Not that many people are lucky enough to go through life without having body confidence issues, but seeing mommy’s cosmetic surgery could easily teach a kid that drastic measures must be taken to correct perceived flaws.

“My Beautiful Mommy” is an interesting concept and has certainly gotten a ton of press. It’ll be interesting to see if it ends up being a niche book that does some good, or if it goes down in the books as one giant step backwards.