This second volume of the Little Bee chapter book series focuses on how Bee’s friend, Tiam, a gender creative child, is encouraged to be his true self with the support of his friends. Friends Bee, Tiam, and Sarah are working on a class project involving butterflies. When Tiam paints his nails with glitter glue, however, some older students tease him and ask, “Why don’t you act like a normal boy instead of playing with girls all the time?”
Bee and Sarah want to help, but Tiam doesn’t want to tell the teacher and make a big deal of it. Later, however, it’s clear something is wrong when he doesn’t show up for an event with their families. Sarah’s mother assures Bee and Sarah, “If he needs help, it’s okay to tell us.” They do. One of Bee’s two dads then observes that he, too, was teased at school for being different from the other boys. His big brother Andy, however, was there to support him.
Tiam tries to fit in with the other boys, but they continue to bully him, particularly one named Blake. In one incident, Blake bars Tiam from the boy’s bathroom and pushes him into the girl’s, which causes several girls to blame Tiam for entering their space. Tiam seems to think that if he does what Blake says, then the bullying will stop—but it doesn’t. Blake sends a doctored photo of Tiam, with long hair, makeup, and jewelry, to the whole class, with the message, “Welcome to the new girl in our class: Tina!”
The girls learn that Tiam’s parents are considering sending him to a new school so that he is not bullied, but the three friends don’t want to be split up. Bee has an idea: Her Uncle Andy’s alter ego is Peppa Mint, the drag queen. (Not to be confused with the real-life drag queen Peppermint.) If Peppa Mint does a Drag Queen Storytime for the school, “Everyone would see how amazing she is and that it’s okay to be yourself!” Bee explains.
But when word of Peppa Mint’s pending appearance leaks out, Blake and his mother try to stop it. Later, Penny explains that Blake has been having a hard time since his parents divorced. Their dad, in fact, now has a boyfriend. The book doesn’t explicitly connect the dots between the fact that the dad has a boyfriend and the mother is opposed to drag queens; not every young reader will realize the relationship (which of course is not an exact overlap) between these identities, but adults may help them understand why Blake may have a knee-jerk reaction to gender nonconformity.
Bee, her friends, and even Blake’s sister rally the other students in support of Tiam and a drag story time. The event takes place, with Tiam dressed as a butterfly from their class project, and then introducing Peppa Mint. When Blake asks Tiam whether he’s now a drag queen, too, Tiam replies that he doesn’t need to hide his true self, but “I don’t need to explain myself to you, Blake, or anyone else.” The class cheers for Tiam. Later, Bee tells us, the school board debated whether the school should hold future drag story times; after a show of parental support, they agreed to allow more. The story ends with the three friends’ families (and Uncle Andy) happily celebrating together and Tiam acknowledging his friends’ help in learning to be himself.
Allyship is the central theme here, but the book also shows the importance of role models and parental support. Adult readers may question the speedy acquiescence of the principal and school board to the drag story times, and whether they would really suffice to end the bullying—but the book offers more of an inspirational model of how things should be than a look at how they (unfortunately) really are. For this age group, that feels like the right call, especially since the book doesn’t hide the ills of the world completely, but offers hope that they can be changed. For readers looking for a story about these issues that is a little more in depth than the picture books Butterfly Child or Drew’s Secret Talent, this is a recommended title.
Bee, her dads, and Sarah are White; Sarah and mother Hannah’ s names imply Jewish heritage. Tiam has dark skin and straight dark hair; his name implies Persian/Iranian ancestry. Tiam may also be read as neurodiverse; in several scenes, he flaps his hands in response to questions or excitement, which could be seen as a form of stimming.
(Don’t confuse this series, from Annick Press, with the many LGBTQ-inclusive titles published by Little Bee Books in partnership with GLAAD. Despite the common name, they are separate endeavors.)
