Trans and Gender Queer Stories
I lumped these two types of stories together because there weren’t enough gender queer books to count separately (14 trans books, 6 gender queer books).
None of these stories featured “any child” protagonists or stories that were just a kid doing kid things, rather they were split between unquestioned, my beautiful life stories (4) and stories of how other kids or adults questioned the gender practices of the protagonist (16). There were 6 books with non-human characters, some of which used allegories to explain a gender transition. The majority of these books had supportive parents or family members (12). Many books fell into the instant-accept trope where the kid comes out and is accepted at once (8). It’s important to balance books where acceptance is easy and those that are hard won, because we want to normalize being trans while also celebrating the resilience and struggle of trans kids.
For each book, I link the Amazon plot summary, a youtube read-aloud if available, and write a mini-analysis.
Plot Summary: In the magical time between night and day, when both the sun and the moon are in the sky, a child is born in a little blue house on a hill. And Miu Lan is not just any child, but one who can change into any shape they can imagine. The only problem is they can't decide what to be: A boy or a girl? A bird or a fish? A flower or a shooting star? At school, though, they must endure inquisitive looks and difficult questions from the other children, and they have trouble finding friends who will accept them for who they are. But they find comfort in the loving arms of their mother, who always offers them the same loving refrain: "whatever you dream of / i believe you can be / from the stars in the sky to the fish in the sea." In this captivating, beautifully imagined picture book about gender, identity, and the acceptance of the differences between us, Miu Lan faces many questions about who they are and who they may be. But one thing's for sure: no matter what this child becomes, their mother will love them just the same.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l3PUnnD7q8
This is a beautiful gender-queer book. The main character, Miu Lan is always changing, boy-girl, tiger-peacock, porcupine-turtle, and tons of other crazy magical combinations. They are teased and made fun of by the kids at school, even at one point trying to be like everyone else, but with the support of their mom, they are finally brave enough to just be themself. This book has strong themes of maternal love and gender (and species) fluidity. It is rare to find a book that emphasizes gender fluidity and this one does it clearly and simply.
Plot Summary: When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl's room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of his life that didn't fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announce that they're going to have another baby, and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning--from choosing the perfect name to creating a beautiful room to picking out the cutest onesie. But what does "making things right" actually mean? And what happens if he messes up? With a little help, Aidan comes to understand that mistakes can be fixed with honesty and communication, and that he already knows the most important thing about being a big brother: how to love with his whole self. When Aidan Became a Brother is a heartwarming book that will resonate with transgender children, reassure any child concerned about becoming an older sibling, and celebrate the many transitions a family can experience.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2nj-VvR994
This story is about a black trans boy (by a trans author!) getting ready for a new baby sibling. We do get the story of Aidan’s transition, but it happens as a prologue to the plot of the story. The explanation of transgender was well done, as it both affirmed Aidan’s experience of feeling like he didn’t belong as a girl and acknowledged the range of things a girl can be. The preparations for the baby were kept carefully gender neutral and Aidan worries about getting everything just perfect. But, his mother reminds him that they made mistakes and they helped each other through them with love and support and that’s what matters. The author’s note at the end of the book connects what Aidan is feeling to other transgender kids, kids that feel a little out of place, kids that worry about making mistakes, and kids like you, reader.
Plot Summary: Once upon a time in a faraway land, an heir to the throne is born. The King has a son to follow in his footsteps. But life might not be quite as it appears for this Royal Family. All will be revealed on their child's 16th birthday. Family love triumphs over doubt and together they grow stronger. Join this Royal Family on the path to discovery, acceptance and celebration.
Youtube link: N/A
A prince transitions to being a princess after feeling uneasy in her role. This is a fantasy coming out story. However, the transition might be a little abrupt for kids as her fairy godmother merely poofs her boy-clothes into a ball gown. Like most coming out stories, it upholds a gender binary.
Plot Summary: Gender-creative Riley knows just what to wear for every occasion during a busy week with family and friends in this sweet and timely picture book from Elana K. Arnold and Linda Davick. Riley wears whatever clothes feel right each day. On Monday, Riley feels shy and wears a bunny costume to school. On Tuesday, a scary trip to the dentist calls for a super hero cape. For a trip out with Otto and Oma, a ball gown is the perfect outfit. This charming picture book is a gentle exploration of self-expression and source of encouragement for being true to oneself despite the expectations of others.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzPBTIVnj20
This is a great gender queer book suitable for younger kids. Riley has a different costume for every occasion to express how they are feeling. The book shows Riley’s self-expression sweetly and matter-of-factly and the charming story shows that you can wear whatever you feel like.
Plot Summary: When Jamie is ready to tell people that she’s really a girl inside, she becomes a princess of great daring in a game she plays with her best friends to gather her courage. She’s pleased (but not surprised) that her questing friends turn out to be just as loyal and true as any princess could want.
Youtube link: N/A
A cute coming out story by a trans author. Jamie comes out to her friends in the middle of a fantasy, imagination game they’re all playing.
Plot Summary: Although Bunnybear was born a bear, he feels more like a bunny. He prefers bouncing in the thicket to tramping in the forest, and in his heart he's fluffy and tiny, like a rabbit, instead of burly and loud, like a bear. The other bears don't understand him, and neither do the bunnies. Will Bunnybear ever find a friend who likes him just the way he is?
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ossn0W1lUh4
This story is about a bear that feels like a bunny and a bunny that feels like a bear making a little space together to be whatever they want to be. At the end of the day, each goes home with their respective families (and species) and gets accepted for who they are. You could definitely take this as an allegory for being trans or simply a story about expressing your inner personality.
Plot summary: Using "fairy" and "goblin" in lieu of female and male, the author has created a timely allegorical fairy tale. A youngster named Julep, who lives in a forest tribe, insists on growing up to be a goblin rather than a fairy. The tribe learns to accept that Julep is a goblin at heart, eventually coming around to support the physical transition that must be made for Julep to live as a goblin.
Youtube link: N/A
A whimsical fairytale that uses “fairy” and “goblin” as genders. Fairies use their wings to tend to the trees and goblins use their claws to dig underground. Julep, despite being physically a fairy, creates mechanical claws to help them with the goblin work, winning acceptance and praise from the elders. It is quite rare to have a fantasy setting that deals with trans issues. However, this book also emphasizes and upholds a binary, leaving no room for gender queer.
Plot Summary: Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let's draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can't be red, no matter how hard he tries! Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He's blue! This funny, heartwarming, colorful picture book about finding the courage to be true to your inner self can be read on multiple levels, and it offers something for everyone.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Z3GunXOz4
This is a book that uses color as an allegory for gender, but never explicitly says so. Everyone tries to help Red crayon draw red things, but he just can’t, because he’s blue. One day, a new friend asks him to draw a blue ocean and suddenly everyone accepts that Red is actually Blue. This is super cute, but the offer of instantaneous acceptance may not be a whole description of a trans story.
Plot Summary: Errol and his teddy, Thomas, are best friends who do everything together. Whether it's riding a bike, playing in the tree house, having a tea party, or all of the above, every day holds something fun to do. One sunny day, Errol finds that Thomas is sad, even when they are playing in their favorite ways. Errol can't figure out why, until Thomas finally tells Errol what the teddy has been afraid to say: "In my heart, I've always known that I'm a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas." And Errol says, "I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend."
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddRmNpLYgCM
Errol and Thomas ride their bike, garden, eat lunch in their tree house, and play at the park. When Thomas transitions to Tilly (with no hesitation or rejection from Errol or his friend Ava), they do all those things again, really emphasizing that it didn’t matter what gender Tilly was. Again, the instantaneous acceptance makes this a good book to have in company with other books with trans characters to balance out the overall message.
Plot Summary: In the Land of This and That, there are only two kinds: blue bunnies and yellow birds. But one day a funny green egg hatches, and a little creature that's not quite a bird and not quite a bunny pops out. It's neither! Neither tries hard to fit in, but its bird legs aren't good for jumping like the other bunnies, and its fluffy tail isn't good for flapping like the other birds. It sets out to find a new home and discovers a very different place, one with endless colors and shapes and creatures of all kinds. But when a blue bunny and a yellow bird with some hidden differences of their own arrive, it's up to Neither to decide if they are welcome in the Land of All.
Youtube link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvB8gHvWmS4
This, that, rather, either, neither, both, somewhat… this book would be great for practicing vocabulary related to mixing and separating. In addition, the pictures tell more of the story than the words, visually representing the “this and that” with color and shape as well as expression. This is another book that could be viewed as an allegory for gender, but really it's about accepting difference.
Plot Summary: The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy follows title-character Tulip as he deals with the birthday wishes of all the nine-year-olds in North America. Somewhat reminiscent of the Disney film Prep & Landing, The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy gives an inside look into what exactly happens to all those wishes, what Wish Fairies eat for lunch, and what kinds of tools they're issued. When a wish Tulip is unfamiliar with crosses his desk, from a child known as David who wishes to live as Daniela, he seeks the wise counsel of the Wish Fairy Captain and learns some new Wish Fairy Skills (while also introducing the concept of trans-identified children in a friendly, sympathetic way). Tulip gets in a little hot water, but ultimately his compassion and thoughtfulness win the day, while serving as a model for readers.
Youtube link: N/A
This is an interesting trans book as it focuses on a fairy as the main character. The fairy has to figure out how to grant a trans-girl’s wish to have a different body. It’s very rare to have a fantasy element in a book with a trans character. While cute and introducing the concept of trans, some people have taken issue with the constant reaffirmation of the gender binary by depicting trans characters as “a boy with a girl heart.” That said, as long as this is not your only book about trans kids, a valuable addition to your library.
Plot Summary: The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere "This is an essential tool for parents and teachers to share with children whether those kids identify as trans or not. I wish I had had a book like this when I was a kid struggling with gender identity questions. I found it deeply moving in its simplicity and honesty."—Laverne Cox (who plays Sophia in “Orange Is the New Black”) From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz's story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF5D2lsPfsU
Based on the real life experience of Jazz Jennings, this book defines transgender simply in a way that kids can understand. A just-be-yourself message! However, this book not only upholds the gender binary but also perpetuates gender stereotypes like boy’s can’t play with dresses and girls can’t play with trucks. This is definitely one valid trans story, but there are many others that this book cannot speak to.
Plot Summary: Jeremiah Nebula is not a bullfrog. He is a black boy that loves pink things, and he desperately wants to travel to Mars. His voyage leads him to land on stars that have little Jeremiah confronting all of his fears, and not just the small ones, the really, really large ones. Will Jeremiah Nebula conquer his large fears? Will he ever make it to Mars? Blast off with “LARGE FEARS” to see if Jeremiah Nebula’s dreams come true or if they remain a daydream.
Youtube link: N/A
The idea of this book is to explore an intersectional identity, to watch a queer, black boy confront his fears. The book reads very poetically as Jeremiah is shooting for “mars,” his dreams, and keeps falling onto “stars,” his fears dressed up in fantastical ways. Intersectional representation is very important in any collection.
Plot Summary: A heartwarming book about unconditional love and one remarkable family. Dyson loves pink, sparkly things. Sometimes he wears dresses. Sometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear his princess tiara, even when climbing trees. He’s a Princess Boy. Inspired by the author’s son, and by her own initial struggles to understand, this heartwarming book is a call for tolerance and an end to bullying and judgments. The world is a brighter place when we accept everyone for who they are.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VhgLGq7bmo
Told from the mother’s point of view, the book sets up a male character who crosses gender lines. My princess boy wears dresses AND climbs trees with boys and girls. The author, perhaps in response to people who didn’t support her son, asks in an accusatory way near the end of the book, “If you see a princess boy, will you laugh at him, will you call him a name, will you play with him, will you like him for who he is?” That part could come across as preachy, but the book as a whole does a good job at setting up a middle ground for kids to express gender freely.
Plot Summary: In this heartwarming picture book, a big sister realizes that her little sister, Jackie, doesn't like dresses or fairies-she likes ties and bugs! Will she and her family be able to accept that Jackie identifies more as "Jack"? Susan thinks her little sister Jackie has the best giggle! She can't wait for Jackie to get older so they can do all sorts of things like play forest fairies and be explorers together. But as Jackie grows, she doesn't want to play those games. She wants to play with mud and be a super bug! Jackie also doesn't like dresses or her long hair, and she would rather be called Jack.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0XfwBcpOf0
This book is a nice one about a sister who is sad about her little sister’s transition, until she realizes that her trans brother is still the same person he always was. The author’s note was very nice as well.
Plot Summary: Kyle doesn't understand why the other kids at school call him names. He looks like other boys, but doesn't feel like them. Can Kyle find the words to share his feelings about his gender - and can his parents help him to transition into the girl he was born to be? When Kayla Was Kyle is a picture book children of all ages will want to read because it addresses the increasingly emerging ideas around gender diversity.
Youtube link: N/A
This is a story about a trans girl facing a lot of rejection and teasing. Falls a little bit into the gender essentialism trap, assuming that there are innate, universal aspects to gender (you can be a boy and not like baseball, I promise).
Plot Summary: Charley was rough. Charley was tough. Charley wore fancy blue gloves. Charley Parkhurst always was more comfortable around horses than around humans. One of the most respected stagecoach drivers in the old West, Charley also kept one of the biggest secrets anyone could keep. Now, through thrilling paintings and Verla Kay’s signature cryptic rhyme, readers are invited to explore an amazing real life, lived without limits.
Youtube link (reading starts at 2:10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPrwTZ8SDo
This is a biography of a woman who dressed up as a man to be a stage-coach driver. This is not necessarily a trans story as one could easily make the argument that Charley practiced the gender transition out of necessity, but the story is a nice one for showing that there isn’t a real difference between men and women.
Plot Summary: In this beautiful children’s picture book by Vivek Shraya, author of the acclaimed God Loves Hair, a five-year-old South Asian boy becomes fascinated with his mother’s bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself. Beautifully illustrated by Rajni Perera, The Boy & the Bindi is a joyful celebration of gender and cultural difference.
Youtube link: N/A
This book has a lot of potential to be a conversation starter about both Hindu culture and about adapting traditions, but the book does not do a good job of explaining any of that. If you didn’t know that bindis were typically only worn by women, you lose the entire gender roles subversion this book is trying to portray. So with a little research and maybe a mini lesson on bindi’s, this book can be a very cool multicultural, queer story to share.
Youtube link (reading starts at 2:10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPrwTZ8SDo
This is a biography of a woman who dressed up as a man to be a stage-coach driver. This is not necessarily a trans story as one could easily make the argument that Charley practiced the gender transition out of necessity, but the story is a nice one for showing that there isn’t a real difference between men and women.
Plot Summary: An empowering celebration of identity, acceptance and Hawaiian culture based on the true story of a young girl in Hawaiʻi who dreams of leading the boys-only hula troupe at her school. Ho'onani feels in-between. She doesn't see herself as wahine (girl) OR kane (boy). She's happy to be in the middle. But not everyone sees it that way. When Ho'onani finds out that there will be a school performance of a traditional kane hula chant, she wants to be part of it. But can a girl really lead the all-male troupe? Ho'onani has to try . . .Based on a true story, Ho'onani: Hula Warrior is a celebration of Hawaiian culture and an empowering story of a girl who learns to lead and learns to accept who she really is--and in doing so, gains the respect of all those around her. Ho'onani's story first appeared in the documentary A Place in the Middle by filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAreUoez6og
This is a book set in Hawaii that mixes Hawaiian words and culture into the story. Based on a true story, Ho’onani feels in between wahine and kane. This is a nice portrait of a gender-queer kid as well as showing a modern-day Hawaiian setting (even if they missed the opportunity to use gender neutral pronouns and some reviewers critique the very Western story arc in a Hawaiian story).
Plot Summary: Every night, Bailey dreams about magical dresses: dresses made of crystals and rainbows, dresses made of flowers, dresses made of windows. . . . Unfortunately, when Bailey's awake, no one wants to hear about these beautiful dreams. Quite the contrary. "You're a BOY!" Mother and Father tell Bailey. "You shouldn't be thinking about dresses at all." Then Bailey meets Laurel, an older girl who is touched and inspired by Bailey's imagination and courage. In friendship, the two of them begin making dresses together. And Bailey's dreams come true! This gorgeous picture book—a modern fairy tale about becoming the person you feel you are inside—will delight people of all ages.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRpaz-hdggo
This is the story of a trans-girl with a very unsupportive family who dreams of fantastical dresses. Although everyone insists that Bailey is a boy and that boys don’t wear dresses, the book consistently uses she/her pronouns for Bailey. The only supportive character is Laurel, an older girl who helps sew Bailey’s fantasy dresses.