Genre: Children’s Picture Book
Publishing date: March 8th, 2022
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
Book Review
One of my favorite kinds of books to exist are nonfiction children’s picture books that teach young readers about subverting gender norms.
This book, aptly titled Pink, Blue and You, is great for so many reasons. It challenges the pink is for girls and blue is boys trope. It also asks questions that challenge gender roles and stereotypes.
I love the art style and the full color illustrations in this book so much as the infused a lot of life into the book.
The book itself also challenges the binary and continues to reiterate to kids that it is okay to be different or to not confirm. From clothes to toys to attributes to activities, this book reinforces the need for kids to be free to be who they are.
I highly recommend this for new parents/guardians or for anyone who has kids around them.
Synopsis
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.
The Author
I was born in Montreal in 1977 and I started drawing not very long after I was born. In kindergarten I was popular because I was able to draw princesses with long spiral hair. Then, in high school, the girls would ask me to draw their ideal guy in their diary. I became very good at drawing muscles and hair, which I used later when I illustrated my book The Great Antonio . On the other hand, I am always just as bad when it comes time to use a diary correctly.
Later, I studied graphic design at Cegep and that’s when I understood that I wanted to do illustration. After my first book, the Catalog des Gaspilleurs , I wrote and illustrated about thirty others . One of my books, The Wrench , won the Governor General’s Award in the Illustration category, and since that time I have a big head and I brag all the time.
I live in Montreal with my two daughters, my husband, my cats and a few spiders. I am currently working on various projects in Quebec, English Canada and the United States. My books are translated into a dozen languages. I hope to live a long time so that I can still make lots and lots of books because I still have lots and lots of ideas.
Website || Twitter || Instagram || Goodreads || Facebook || Pinterest || Reddit
Oyinda Loves Books 