Simple, accessible, and direct, this picture book is perfect for kids and parents or teachers to read together, opening the door to conversations about gender stereotypes and everyone's right to be their true selves.
Is it okay for boys to cry? Can girls be strong? Should girls and boys be given different toys to play with and different clothes to wear? Should we all feel free to love whoever we choose to love? In this incredibly kid-friendly and easy-to-grasp picture book, author-illustrator Elise Gravel and transgender collaborator Mykaell Blais raise these questions and others relating to gender roles, acceptance, and stereotyping.
With its simple language, colorful illustrations, engaging backmatter that showcases how "appropriate" male and female fashion has changed through history, and even a poster kids can hang on their wall, here is the ideal tool to help in conversations about a multi-layered and important topic.
FINALIST
| 2023 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction
★ "Wildly appealing, and the comic-style presentation helps to endear the book to readers... thoughtful, engaging, and visually bright." —School Library Journal, starred review
ELISE GRAVEL is an award-winning author-illustrator from Quebec. She has won a Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration in French, and is well known for her original, wacky picture books and graphic novels. After completing her studies in graphic design, Elise found herself quickly swept up into the glamorous world of illustration. Her old design habits drive her to work a little text here and there into her drawings, and she loves to handle the design of her assignments from start to finish. She is inspired by social causes and likes projects that can handle a good dose of eccentricity.
View titles by Elise Gravel
Mykaell Blais (he/him) works as a training coordinator for GRIS-Quebec, the Research and Social Intervention Group, a nonprofit community organization and support program for LGBTQ+ kids and young adults. It aims to demystify stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity by raising awareness in schools. Being a transmasculine person himself, Mykaell would have loved to read this book in his youth, to celebrate his uniqueness. Learn more at grisquebec.org.
View titles by Mykaell Blais
Simple, accessible, and direct, this picture book is perfect for kids and parents or teachers to read together, opening the door to conversations about gender stereotypes and everyone's right to be their true selves.
Is it okay for boys to cry? Can girls be strong? Should girls and boys be given different toys to play with and different clothes to wear? Should we all feel free to love whoever we choose to love? In this incredibly kid-friendly and easy-to-grasp picture book, author-illustrator Elise Gravel and transgender collaborator Mykaell Blais raise these questions and others relating to gender roles, acceptance, and stereotyping.
With its simple language, colorful illustrations, engaging backmatter that showcases how "appropriate" male and female fashion has changed through history, and even a poster kids can hang on their wall, here is the ideal tool to help in conversations about a multi-layered and important topic.
Awards
FINALIST
| 2023 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction
Praise
★ "Wildly appealing, and the comic-style presentation helps to endear the book to readers... thoughtful, engaging, and visually bright." —School Library Journal, starred review
Author
ELISE GRAVEL is an award-winning author-illustrator from Quebec. She has won a Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration in French, and is well known for her original, wacky picture books and graphic novels. After completing her studies in graphic design, Elise found herself quickly swept up into the glamorous world of illustration. Her old design habits drive her to work a little text here and there into her drawings, and she loves to handle the design of her assignments from start to finish. She is inspired by social causes and likes projects that can handle a good dose of eccentricity.
View titles by Elise Gravel
Mykaell Blais (he/him) works as a training coordinator for GRIS-Quebec, the Research and Social Intervention Group, a nonprofit community organization and support program for LGBTQ+ kids and young adults. It aims to demystify stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity by raising awareness in schools. Being a transmasculine person himself, Mykaell would have loved to read this book in his youth, to celebrate his uniqueness. Learn more at grisquebec.org.
View titles by Mykaell Blais
