GENDER IDENTITY FOR KIDS

This straightforward guide invites readers to explore all things gender.

Doodle-style illustrations, lots of white space, and casual, direct text set an accessible and supportive tone right from the opening pages. A cast of characters who are diverse in terms of race, gender, and ability are introduced with their names and pronouns, spotlighting different ways of existing and expressing oneself. Characters’ identities are deepened in subsequent chapters alongside stylized, speech bubble–filled art. The kids explore (sometimes comedically, as in a joke comparing pizza and cinnamon rolls to gender roles) concepts and ideas presented, including sex versus gender, the gender binary, and more. A variety of typefaces and text colors help to clarify the information-packed pages; inset boxes highlight definitions; and kid-friendly metaphors engage and inform: “Having a gender assigned to you at birth, along with your sex, is a little bit like having your favorite color picked for you.” Topics like labels, pronouns, coming out, and anti-trans attitudes are confronted head-on, carefully and with age-appropriate nuance. Self-care suggestions and affirmations abound, and readers are encouraged to focus on their wants and needs and to take a break from the book at any time. At the end of each chapter, main ideas are revisited, followed by a list of questions that prompt deeper personal reflection.

A thoughtful, thorough, and inclusive resource.