Inclusive Book Reviews From a GSA

Pride and Less Prejudice

Recently, the GSA at a school near Toronto decided to write book reviews of LGBTQ-inclusive books. The students are in grades 4-6, and had lots to say about the books, some of which are part of PLP’s chosen collection. Enjoy their reviews below!  

Student, Grade 6: A Family is a Family is a Family

I am reviewing A Family is a Family is a Family written by Sara O’Leary and illustrated by Qin Leng. The book was about families being different, they can change from person to person and all families are okay. 

When reading the book I think it might make some kids feel different things. Kids who have a difficult time in their family life might feel sad or angry when reading the book because they might be reminded of things in their own lives. For kids who have a different family, it would make them feel happy because they can relate and see themselves in the book. I think this book is for grades one to four because at this age you start to learn about families and continue to learn until grade four. The book used simple language and made it easy for kids to understand how families can look different. 

I would rate A Family is a Family is a Family four out of five stars. I give it this rating because despite some kids' families being different from each other, all of them were shown as happy. One quote that stood out to me was, “My family is not like any other family” because it connects to the whole book reminding us to be aware that all kids and their families are different and should be celebrated. 

This book made me think about how families can change from time to time for some kids and that all the families, even though they were different or maybe had a difficult time, were happy in the book. One thing that I think would make the book better would be to add more details about each kind of family so the book could be used in older grades as well. 

Two Students, Grade 4: A Family is a Family is a Family

We are reviewing A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O'Leary. The book explains that families are all different and that is okay. We think the target audience is between 14 to adult. The book made us feel good and helped us feel open to talking about our families. An important quote was, “I went last because I wasn't sure what to say. My family is not like everybody else’s.” We rated this book 4 out of five stars. The reason is that the book talks about different families and that's good for people to know about. Two stars for the book are that we like the colors in the book and we like that the title page has just a little bit of words. For a wish we want the book to have more pages and more colors.

Two Students, Grade 4: They She He Me: Free to Be!

We read They She He Me: Free to Be! by Maya and Matthew Gonzalez. This book was made to teach about different pronouns. The book was made for everyone, everywhere. The message made us feel like we belong here and that everyone else does too. We thought the book was great and rated it 5 out of 5 stars. The reason we liked this book is because it told us about different pronouns and reminded us that it doesn't matter what you look like, you get to pick your pronouns. For two stars and a wish, we liked that it told us different pronouns but we wished there was more information about them throughout the book.

Student, Grade 6: They She He Me: Free to Be!

The book that I read is They She He Me: Free to Be! This book is about how people are allowed to have different pronouns without being ridiculed or discriminated against. The target audience is people that are either interested in the topic or are having trouble finding pronouns for them. A key quote that I thought was important is, “This is why everyone should be free to be exactly who they are on the inside.” The rating I’m going to give for the book is ⅗ stars just because it got boring to read ½ way through since it was a bit repetitive.

Two Students, Grade 6 / Two Students, Grade 4: Big Wig

We read the book Big Wig by Jonathan Hillman and illustrated by Levi Hastings. Big Wig included a story about a drag queen contest. One of the contestants, B.B. Bedazzeld, was a little bit insecure about the size of her wig, but with her strength and confidence, her wig grew bigger and she ended up winning the competition. One of the quotes that we really liked from the book was “[Wig is] big enough, no matter her size,” which reminds us that no matter what, she is good enough to compete in the drag competition. After reading Big Wig, it made us feel a little more confident in ourselves as young girls, as it reminds us that we will always be good enough to do whatever we put our minds to. We really enjoyed the book’s message to the readers, which is that we are all good enough and can do whatever we put our minds to. The second thing we really liked was that the book focused on drag queens, which was unique as all the other LGBTQ2S+ books we read had not mentioned drag queens, they only focused on pronouns, gender identity, or being yourself. One thing we think could make the book better is if it was a little bit longer, since we felt it jumped to the conclusion very quickly and would have liked to hear more of the story. As a group of junior students, we believe this book could be read to grades 1 to 3 because it doesn’t include too much detail so younger students would understand. We also think that older grades (4-6) would enjoy this book. Overall, it was a 3.5/5 star rating! 

The Whole GSA: Pink is for Everybody

Together during our GSA meeting, we read the book Pink is for Everybody written by Ella Russell and illustrated by Udayana Lugo. After reading the book, our group liked the overall message that pink can be for anybody who likes it, it’s not just a colour for “girls.” The book expressed that everyone is different and has their own opinions about the colour. The book said, “Pink is not for everybody…pink is most definitely, ab-so-tootly, cer-ter-tainly not for anybody who doesn’t like pink!” One of the things we enjoyed about this book was the cover. It was interesting and eye-catching, making the book our first choice to read and review. Next, we really liked the message of the book because it included various people and animals who did and didn’t like wearing pink, which represents multiple people in the world. One thing we feel could make the book better would be to include more variety in the characters' ages. Including adults in the story would add to the message of pink being for anybody as it would be extended to an adult audience. We feel this book would deserve a 4 out of 5 stars because it is an inclusive book. When the authors discuss pink being for everybody, they include girls, boys, and people who identify as non-binary. Additionally, the book showed people of all professions wearing the colour pink, to show that people can do any profession and wear any colour they choose, regardless of what people think their profession should wear. We discussed that this book might help if it were read to people who felt insecure about expressing themselves in the colours they like due to stereotypes or other people’s opinions. This book would be great to read with primary and junior classes as a whole group read aloud. The book included lots of pictures, did not overwhelm the reader with too many words and will educate students and their community that pink is not just for one gender, it can be for anyone who wants to wear it.  

Thank you to the thoughtful group of students and teachers who make up this GSA for your reviews!