First Impressions: Marley’s Pride
Katie Smith
I recently was gifted Marley’s Pride by Joëlle Retener and read it for the first time. Immediately upon seeing the cover I knew this was a kind of children’s book I had never seen before. The characters were holding the transgender and bisexual flags and the word ‘pride’ was in rainbow lettering. I was never exposed to literature with queer characters or themes until my senior year of high school, so I was excited to see what topics this book was going to address.
Marley’s Pride is a picture book about a young child named Marley who wants to celebrate at the Pride Parade with their Zaza but struggles to overcome their anxiety with big crowds and loud noises. Throughout the story, Marley explores what the real meaning of pride is. Eventually, they overcome their fears with the help of the community and get to see their Zaza be a true activist in action.
My immediate reaction to the book was how impressed I was with the number of themes and topics that were covered without it feeling forced. The topics of anxiety, pronouns, being non-binary, Pride month, and the different LGBTQ+ flags and identities were all introduced very naturally. The main plotline was about wanting to join a celebration and facing your fears in order to do so. However, the celebration being a Pride Parade made it the perfect segue to introduce what its purpose is. I loved how it is described how “Pride isn’t just a big ole party. It’s about celebrating who we are, about community, and love.”
This book hit close to home for me for two main reasons. One is my own history with anxiety as a child. I was an extremely nervous kid and cried almost everyday going to school up until 3rd grade. However, none of the adults in my life were equipped with the knowledge of what anxiety was or how it worked, so I did not realize until later in life that that’s what it was. Reading this book gave me so much hope for how mental health will be dealt with for this younger generation. I particularly loved that Marley’s parents and Zaza never forced them to push through their anxiety. They were always given the choice to stay home, but when Marley decided they wanted to attend, Zaza gave her the coping skills needed to ensure they could do it and feel safe. Normalizing these feelings for children is so important, and this book is something I wish I had access to as a child.
My second reason for absolutely loving this book is the inclusivity aspect. I am currently a women’s, gender, and sexuality studies minor in college, and the majority of my classes talk about the importance of education to change culture. This book is a perfect example of what my classes teach about, which makes me so happy! Organically including LGBTQ themes in books is the best way to normalize them and spark further conversations. The last two pages of the book are dedicated to defining terminology and unpacking the themes brought up throughout the book, which I think is really important for anyone ending with questions. Overall, I really enjoyed reading Marley’s Pride and think all children should have access to it!
