Author/illustrator Sophie Beer is back with another cheery board book, this one with an affirming message of self-love, especially for queer kids and those with queer parents.
“You’re fabulous in any shade,” it begins. “And in the whole rainbow as well!” Whether your hair is long or short, you’re messy or tidy, and no matter your mood or your changing mind, the text continues across the subsequent pages, “I’ll always think you’re fabulous … Exactly as you are.”
The images show children and parents engaged in a variety of activities at home and in their neighborhood. Several of the children seem gender creative, with a short-haired child in a skirt and one in feminine hair puffs and a suit. One girl is proudly displaying her rainbow-striped shirt and tie-on unicorn horn to the grocery clerk, while an adult in a unicorn t-shirt and short blue hair, presumably the parent, smiles at her. Another page shows a short-haired child alternating between skirt and shorts. Among the adults are also a two-woman couple in wedding dresses and tattoos, a tattooed parent with short hair, a mom-dad couple, and a burly, bearded, motorcycle-riding dad. Several adults and children could be read as nonbinary.
Sweet and simple, but highly recommended for its important message, lightly conveyed, and Beer’s always-wonderful images.
(The characters’ identities aren’t stated, but I’m tagging this book with several that seem likely, so that those seeking such representation can interpret them for themselves.)
