This is the third book in a series starring Jamie (who doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl), offering lessons about gender, stereotypes, and empowerment. In this volume, Jamie and their class are getting ready for Family Day. Although Jamie is excited about welcoming family visitors to the classroom, some of their classmates share that they feel their families don’t always listen to them. One girl is wearing an outfit she doesn’t like because her mom wanted her to; a boy expresses that he’d rather go to art class than to the soccer practice his dad wants him to attend; another girl says her grannie is too strict about table manners; and a boy seems upset that his uncle thinks “boys shouldn’t cry.”
Jamie’s solution—to have the class make posters telling their adults more about themselves and their likes, dislikes, and fears—is perhaps a bit too effortlessly successful (and it seems odd that Jamie is the only one in the class whose adult listened to what they had to say, “even when she [the adult] didn’t agree”), but is a nice example of self-advocacy and a reminder to us grown-ups to listen better.
Back matter includes “Tips for Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers” on how to help kids feel heard and respected and how to encourage them speak up about what they need and like (or don’t).
