Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen and illustrated by Lucia Soto

 

BUY HERE (or, even better, request at your local library)

Mary Wears What She Wants, by Keith Negley

I wasn't going to write about this book, primarily because there are countless children's books out there either explicitly about feminism or with main characters who are brave, smart girls.  And we're lucky that at an age when many children start to segregate themselves by gender, my son still has many female friends.  He remains gobsmacked by the idea that any of these hilarious, interesting, fun girls he knows would ever be treated differently than a boy; the best player on his basketball team is a girl and in his eyes Serena Williams is the "best tennis player in the world!"  However, there was something about this book - my son won't let me return it to the library and at a time when he mostly wants to read chapter books he keeps picking this off the shelf at night.

The story itself is simple.  Mary and the other girls are all expected to wear skirts, all the time.  My son found this so outrageously shocking the first time we read the story that he actually stared at me with his mouth hanging open!  However, one day Mary wears pants, only to be met with outrage.  After a talk with her dad, she wears them again the next day, but happily discovers that some of the the other girls are now wearing pants as well.

There is a page in the back discussing Mary Edwards Walker, who the story is based on.  I think that this is part of the appeal, how grounded the story is in reality and how clear cut the disparate treatment is.  His favorite part was discussing how Dr. Walker was a surgeon in the Civil War and was captured by the Confederates (but still lived to tell the tale).

BUY HERE (or, even better, request at your local library!)

Edited to recommend a similar book, Born to Ride by Larissa Theule.  I'm not going to do a separate post because both my son and I far preferred Mary Wears What She Wants, but this is also a historically accurate story about how girls were initially discouraged from riding bikes because of the risk of "bicycle face" - essentially, that the strain of riding a bicycle could potentially disfigure a girl's face.  We checked this out of the library and read it several times, and if your child is into the history of feminism this is a worthwhile and entertaining book.

I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings

I grabbed this at the library, grateful for a book that would help explain what it means to be transgender but at the same time honestly not expecting much (given that we haven't generally liked many children's books written by celebrities - though Jazz Jennings is perhaps better viewed as an activist).  However, I was pleasantly surprised by this story!  While there isn't really a story - there is a clear narrative of Jazz's experience as a transgender child and my son really, really just got it on the first reading. 

One minor caveat - the book does present gender very simplistically, in that it seems to point to Jazz's interests in princesses, mermaid costumes, and dresses (versus trucks or tools) as a reason that she is a girl.  Problematic when my son is at an age where he is starting to come home from school and make pronouncements like "I hate princesses" (despite his obsession with Moana).  And while these may be specific things that Jazz is (and is not) interested in I didn't want to convey the message to my son that girls like these things and boys like these other things, and so I ended up changing a few of the parts of the book when I read it aloud to my son.  However, overall this book is an excellent introduction to what transgender means for younger readers.  

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Jill Twiss

It took me some time to pick up this book, it got a lot of media attention when it was published and I thought there was no way such a high profile children's book would actually be an enjoyable read.  But I was wrong.  It's delightful and funny and conveys a great message without being preachy and our family adores it so much that our son insisted we read it to his whole preschool class!

Marlon Bundo (the grandson of Mike Pence, the Vice President) leads a repetitive life until he encounters Wesley.  Wesley and Marlon quickly fall in love and make plans to "hop together Forever."  All of their friends are thrilled except for the (hilariously) grumpy Stink Bug, who is unfortunately in charge.  As the most important, Stink Bug proclaims that boy bunnies can NOT marry boy bunnies because being different is bad.  All of their other friends think up ways in which they are different as well (Mr. Paws the dog likes to sniff butts) and decide to vote the Stink Bug out of office and Marlon and Welsey live happily ever after.  Like I said, the best!  And with enough funny parts that a roomful of 4 and 5 year olds won't be able to contain their laughter.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

Teddy's Favorite Toy, by Christian Trimmer

I was so skeptical of this book - we once read a book about a boy who preferred to wear dresses and I think it had the opposite of its intended effect.  My son went from thinking that there was absolutely nothing unusual about a boy wearing a dress, to being a bit suspicious based on the reactions of all the children in the book.

This book is at the same time subtle and straightforward in addressing the fact that Teddy's favorite toy is a doll.  It starts by noting that Teddy has lots of cool toys such as a fire engine he can ride on (my son was blown away by this), a rocket ship, puzzles, a hula hoop . . . but his favorite one is a doll named Bren-Da, Warrior Queen of the Pacific.  Bren-Da enjoys a tea party and dressing up but also has the "sickest fighting skills."  When Teddy's mom accidentally throws away Bren-Da while cleaning his room, his mom uses all of Bren-Da's various talents (manners, cool moves!) to rescue Bren-Da from the garbage truck.  All in all, a pretty perfect introduction to a boy who just happens to love his doll.

In addition to all of the wonderfulness above, Teddy is a child of color and, if you choose, can be read as either adopted or biracial (his mom is the only parent pictured and appears to be white).

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)