A young child named Fred, who uses male pronouns, runs happily naked through his house as his unfazed parents sit reading on the couch. He runs into his parents’ closet and thinks, “It might be fun to dress like Dad.” He tries to put on his dad’s clothes, but has trouble—the clothes are big and there’s a tie. He then looks at his mom’s clothes and thinks, “It might be fun to dress like Mom.” He has no trouble here as he puts on a blouse that is long enough to be a dress for him, and adds a scarf around his waist and a pair of Mom’s shoes—but he then realizes something is still missing. He goes over to his mom’s jewelry box and makeup drawer and adds some jewelry, but ends up with lipstick on his cheek just as his parents walk in.
There’s a moment when we’re not quite sure what their reactions will be, but then both parents smile, and his mom models how she does her makeup and hair. Fred follows along and “The whole family joins the fun,” with dad donning a necklace, the dog getting a bow on its tail, and Fred adding toenail polish and a flower in his hair. “Now Fred is dressed,” we read—but did he forget one article of clothing underneath it all?
We don’t know if Fred is cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, ongoingly gender creative, or just having a fun day trying on mom’s clothes, and it doesn’t really matter. His parents support his gender-creative play—and we sense that they’ll continue to support him no matter what path he takes. Children will also no doubt be amused by his initial naked antics (though they are drawn discretely). Fred and his family are all White.
A joyous tale from a Caldecott honor-winning artist.
