Skip to main content

Member Reviews

The picture book of "ABC of gender identity" was a perfect introduction for children ages 7+. This book was very minimalistic but it caters to children with the very bright colors and cute 🥰 little characters. The conversation about gender identity is typically more difficult for adults than children. Unlike children who are a clean slate adults have set ideas 💡 and beliefs.

One of the common complaints about this book was the lack of information. I think it has just enough to keep a child’s attention and enough context for adults to do their research once they read it before they read it to their child.

I love that this is so available and I hope to read more from this author. Children need to know these things and learn it at home.

As someone who has a son,I would definitely read this to him. I would recommend this to other parents as well.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC !!! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all thoughts are my own.

Was this review helpful?

This book is utterly ridiculous nonsense. I actually thought it was a joke when I started reading it. There are outdated and inappropriate terms (gender reassignment?) and some that seem downright made up or copied from a Reddit diatribe. The same definition is used more than once and many are almost identical. The “babyish” illustrations don’t match the tone of the book, and it’s also confused as to what it wants its audience to be. Umm ... what does “body type” have to do with gender identity? The “Guide for Adults” at the end is patronizing and completely unoriginal... the author may as well have said, “First, open the book. Then, read the page on the left, followed by the page on the right.”

Was this review helpful?

This is a great resource to introduce children to discussions of gender identities, and will more likely than not, also introduce many older people to the concepts too
It consists of the name of the identity with a small definition - i think this is good to spark discussion and introduce concepts to kids. at the end there is a small text to help parents/caretakers in navigating these discussions, which will also be very useful
it is a very simple book, both in concept and illustrations, but taking into account the aim and target of it, i find it appropriate. i think a follow-up/sequel would be welcome

thank you to netgally and the publisher for an eARC

Was this review helpful?

I've read other books that are very similar to this one, and this is in the same vein. I loved how it covered things in a way that kids can understand. I did notice a notation on a few pages - [AQ] - that I'm not sure will be kept in the final copy, but otherwise well written.

Was this review helpful?

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing access to this book in exchange for an honest review.*

A cute book, but some of the information is incorrect so I can’t recommend this book to anyone or give it more than a single star. For example, the bigender definition in this book only mentioned identifying as male and female at the same time, rather than including nonbinary genders in this definition. Another example is the word queer. Not everyone who meets the definition in this book is comfortable using this term, and not everyone who uses this term meets the definition in this book. Anyone in the LGBTQ+ community might identify as queer, regardless of their gender identity. It is so so so frustrating to see new books about gender identity still making these mistakes.

Was this review helpful?

I have often wondered what different gender terms mean. Some are older and you know right away or are easy to assess, others seem to be used interchangeably, but do have solid meanings, and others are brand new to this reader, like Xirl/Xoy, or Kynigender. This book was a wonderful first step in understanding some of these. There is something for everyone to learn.

Was this review helpful?

I read an advanced copy courtesy of NetGalley. It's a simplistic explanation of 26 different gender identities. As someone who is trying to better understand marginalized people, it's a great introduction to lesser known genders. There's an excellent explanation of how better to use the book to explore and explain with your child.

Was this review helpful?

This was a quick and easy conversation starter on gender identity. I appreciated the bold colors and brief definitions. As a parent I am always looking for ways to introduce my daughter to the realities of life including respecting gender and this book gave me some new language to share with her.

I intend to use this as a platform and guide in our discussions but also to use this as a starting point to finding more sources on some of the newer terms that I was not as familiar with.

Was this review helpful?

I think the intention of this book is good but I think it would more be a book for older children or adults rather than younger chuldren. It has cute drawings with a cute alphabet concept but the descriptions are quite simplistic and not necessarily relevant to right now which can be hard when the terminology is constantly changing.

Was this review helpful?

WOW! I learned so much while I read this to my little one. This helps open up conversations and builds vocabulary for future conversations about gender identity. I am so impressed with the thoroughness of the concepts.

Was this review helpful?

Though short, I learned a lot from the ABC of Gender Identity book. I was unaware there were so many. I also learned that some identities that I thought I knew the meaning of were actually incorrect. I think this would be a great book for kids and adults alike.

Was this review helpful?

I love the idea of this book and think it would be a great recommendation for specific children/students. While the concepts in the book are important for all children to understand, there are so many big constructs in the book that would need very thorough explanations with adults. While the book is set up as an alphabet book, I felt that most children would really need to be upper-elementary before exploring these concepts and at that point an alphabet book may not be as engaging to them.

Was this review helpful?

I received an eARC of this book in return for an honest review; thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

This book takes a very complicated subject and reduces it to fairly simple terms. I would recommend this book as an introductory aid for an older child/teen who is interested in learning more about gender identity. The art style is very simple and is a good compliment to the simple definitions provided.

I liked the inclusion of discussion points and the matter of fact way the information is presented.

If you are seeking to understand more about different kinds of gender identity and get confused by differing online resources, this book is a solid introduction.

Was this review helpful?

the ABCs of Gender Identity would be a great addition to any classroom or school library, as well as in the homes of younger and older children. I'm an educator who has worked with children for 10 years and I am a very out and proud person, and this book still had identities I was unaware of, so there are things to learn for all ages.

Was this review helpful?

This book is not only great for teaching children about gender identity terms, it is informative for adults too. There were terms that I was not familiar with, but now I have a general definition to go with it. The language is simple and easy to understand. I appreciate the inclusive illustrations as well. A great addition to any inclusive library.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book very helpful as a parent with simple explanations all in one place as a reference. Some terms were unknown to me, so that was particularly helpful.

The bright colours of the background and characters are very appealing and my son was drawn to them. We would use this book as a referee material to make sure we understand terms we here.

Overall a very useful book, for children and adults who are trying to understand new terminology.

Was this review helpful?

i think the intention was good. but the outcome could have been better. a few terms were kind of.. random and out of place. just a sentence or two to describe those terms are very minimalist, too. a few more sentences to start a conversation with your child would have been an improvement.

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

I find this book to be more helpful for parents than for their children. Since this subject of gender is very difficult for parents to discuss with their children, this book helps in explaining in a very understandable words the main terms associated with gender diversity. For each letter of the alphabet, a term related to gender identity is named and defined in a very brief manner.
Some of the words like Yinyang Ren, were unfamiliar for me as well. The books can be used as a good opportunity to start conversation with our children about gender and diversity.

Was this review helpful?

I am not an expert on gender identity by far but i know a good bit and I had never heard of a LOT of these terms. I didn't rush to judgement, though. I did some more research. I asked friends who were more knowledgable than I, then I did even more research. Ultimately, I discovered that many of these terms exist predominately on Tumblr. I'm not trying to denounce anyones gender identity and clearly some people DO use these terms but including them in a book like this really just seems to be confusing and will possibly make people less likely to try to learn about gender identities. I understand the desire to make people with less common gender identities feel included, so I am torn on this issue. Most people I asked felt similar. I want everyone to feel included but I also want people to accept different gender identities and terms like "witchgender" are not going to help people take this seriously. I DO take it seriously and that one still made me want to roll my eyes. I don't know, ultimately, I don't know how I feel about this book. I'm not even sure I am entitled to an opinion on it, which is why I'm not going to give it a low rating. It's not my place to say what is and what isn't a valid gender identity. I won't read it to my kid because I have other books on the subject that I feel will connect with her more but I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it for their kids.

Was this review helpful?

There are so many words to describe gender identity that I had not known about before reading through this book with my kid! I think this book gives adults and children a great jumping off point to start having conversations around different ways people express gender, but I think the presentation as an ABC story oversimplifies a lot of terms that have overlapping meanings. Regardless, I think this is an excellent starting point and helps fill a gap in children’s books that sorely needs filling.

Was this review helpful?