My Sister, Daisy
By Adria Karlsson, Linus Curci
Why this book?
The best picture books about diverse families
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Browse the best books on gender identity as recommended by authors, experts, and creators. Along with notes on why they recommend those books.
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By Adria Karlsson, Linus Curci
The best picture books about diverse families
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By Bernardine Evaristo
This book was surprising in both its humor and expansive narrative. Despite being somewhat experimental in its form, I loved this book as it told the stories of 12 British women of color who ranged in ages between 19 and 93 in London. Each life told separately, builds on the others. Spanning issues of class, gender identity, and family, the novel focuses on intersections of experience as generations of women are woven together.
The best fiction to explore the humor and angst of family relationships
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By Norah Vincent
Reading much like a novel, Vincent's book is a first-person account of a woman going undercover as a man (cross-dressing drag rather than trans, per se) to discover what men are like: "I found masculinity distilled, unmitigated by feminine influences, and therefore observable in a concentrated state" (p181). An intriguing contrast to Schilt's book, Vincent says "It was hard being a guy" (p275); "Someone is always evaluating your manhood" (p276); "I saw how degraded and awful a relentless, humiliating sex drive could make you" (p277).
The best books to make you think about gender (and sex)
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By Vivek Shraya, Rajni Perera
This book helps fill a huge need for picture books that celebrate children of different cultures who aren’t limited by gender. This story is about the loving relationship between mother and child. Each time I read it, I am awestruck by the artistry and touched by the message. The child is captivated by the dot that Ammi wears above her nose. Ammi explains “my bindi keeps me safe and true,” and places a bindi on the child’s forehead. Each page of prose with vivid hand-painted illustrations, tells us a little bit more about how wearing the bindi brings comfort, strength…
The best picture books that celebrate diversity and joy in children
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By Neon Yang
As a fellow genderqueer/non-binary Asian writer, I’m happy to champion the first in Neon Yang’s Tensorate series. A YA novella set in a non-Western fantasy landscape, this book tackles issues of gender identity and choice head-on, introducing us to a society where children are referred to individually using they/them pronouns, and can select one of the binary genders when they come of age or chose to remain non-binary. We see the world through the eyes of twins Mokoya and Akeha as they come into their gender expressions and their powers in a feudal, monastic society largely reminiscent of those found…
The best speculative fiction books for dismantling the patriarchy
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By Jessica Walton, Dougal MacPherson
The best picture books on diversity and feelings
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