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About Chris
This story affirms the dignity and self worth of a child who knows that he is a boy despite the fact that his body is female. Chris's story portrays his determination to be his true self, and the lesson his teacher learns. May this lesson open hearts and minds!
40 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2015
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 14, 2017
Now that the idea of transgender children isn't as shocking as it had been even five years ago, there are books available to introduce the topic to those who want to be made more aware of this occurrence.
This particular book is aimed at a pre-school level, though I'm sure it would work just fine for Kindergarteners-2nd graders, as well.
Illustrated in a style similar to that of Todd Parr, the pictures are simple, bright, and happy. The text is easy to understand and the story is short, following Chris, whom adults call Christina, as he traverses the world as a boy even though adults think he's a girl.
It's a nice introduction to something that may not be understood by kids...or, more likely, the parents of kids.
Buuuuuut...
Again, socially-approved boy characteristics are used to show that Chris is boy, not a girl. He likes superheroes and mud, he doesn't want flowers and rainbows when face-painting, he wants scars. He dresses like a cowboy.
The companion book, My Favorite Color is Pink, is advertised on the back and the blurb for that one says, "A young child who knows she is a girl, despite the fact that she has a male body, has the strength and courage to be her true self" and the pink cover shows a long-haired girl in a pink dress toting a pink purse and wearing pink Mary Janes so I suspect that book also focuses on socially-approved girl things to prove that the transgender girl is, in fact, a girl.
This continues to be a huge problem for me. First off, not all girls like pink. I didn't. My niece didn't. The neighbor kid didn't. Yet, we still identified as girls. Not all boys like bugs and mud. Plenty of boys like the color pink. The only reason boys like boy things and girls like girl things is because we expect them to so that's what we give them while simultaneously steering them clear of gender-inappropriate activities.
But, the thing is, there are no gender-appropriate activities, no gender-appropriate colors, and when these books, the ones showing that transgender children are legit people, showcase their characters espousing certain beliefs that are assigned to a gender, it just reinforces the entire idea that you have to act one way or another to be considered a boy or a girl, which effectively erases all the kids who don't fit into that scope. It also reinforces the idea that if you like these specific things, then you are this specific gender and if you like those other things, you're that other gender and that's just not how that works.
This particular book is aimed at a pre-school level, though I'm sure it would work just fine for Kindergarteners-2nd graders, as well.
Illustrated in a style similar to that of Todd Parr, the pictures are simple, bright, and happy. The text is easy to understand and the story is short, following Chris, whom adults call Christina, as he traverses the world as a boy even though adults think he's a girl.
It's a nice introduction to something that may not be understood by kids...or, more likely, the parents of kids.
Buuuuuut...
Again, socially-approved boy characteristics are used to show that Chris is boy, not a girl. He likes superheroes and mud, he doesn't want flowers and rainbows when face-painting, he wants scars. He dresses like a cowboy.
The companion book, My Favorite Color is Pink, is advertised on the back and the blurb for that one says, "A young child who knows she is a girl, despite the fact that she has a male body, has the strength and courage to be her true self" and the pink cover shows a long-haired girl in a pink dress toting a pink purse and wearing pink Mary Janes so I suspect that book also focuses on socially-approved girl things to prove that the transgender girl is, in fact, a girl.
This continues to be a huge problem for me. First off, not all girls like pink. I didn't. My niece didn't. The neighbor kid didn't. Yet, we still identified as girls. Not all boys like bugs and mud. Plenty of boys like the color pink. The only reason boys like boy things and girls like girl things is because we expect them to so that's what we give them while simultaneously steering them clear of gender-inappropriate activities.
But, the thing is, there are no gender-appropriate activities, no gender-appropriate colors, and when these books, the ones showing that transgender children are legit people, showcase their characters espousing certain beliefs that are assigned to a gender, it just reinforces the entire idea that you have to act one way or another to be considered a boy or a girl, which effectively erases all the kids who don't fit into that scope. It also reinforces the idea that if you like these specific things, then you are this specific gender and if you like those other things, you're that other gender and that's just not how that works.
August 9, 2023
Content warnings are listed at the end of my review!
Well, this did the job of being About Chris, no more, no less. We are in the perspective of Nina the pre-k teacher who has a great student named Chris, who has all kinds of interests and is a playful and outwardly masculine reading child. It goes through him drawing super heroes every day, dressing up as a prince to play with the princesses, he's super fast, and a courageous leader. When a visitor comes and asks who that great boy is, the teacher introduces him with his deadname, upsetting Chris. This prompts a conversation between the teacher and Chris, and the teacher asks if he believes he's "really a boy", and Chris explains that "belly button down" he "is a girl", and "belly button up" he is a boy. The teacher listens and tells Chris she understands and believes him. The story ends here and goes into "wonder wisdom" which is a series of questions to think about based on the story.
I think the wonder wisdom section could have been integrated into the very short story to make it a bit more robust. Chris isn't necessarily misgendered in the story, but the wisdom elaborates slightly that his deadname is his 'girl' name. Having this context shown in the story could help to really distinguish as well that Chris is a trans boy, not just gender nonconforming.
Summary:
Readability: ★★★☆☆, It was easy to read, but there just wasn't much to work with. Chris is explicitly deadnamed on page once, and a lot of the wording is clunky and not the most mindful and inclusive.
Entertainment: ★☆☆☆☆, The lack of context for anything as well as no story besides the student Chris is trans, which gets questionable and nearly zero elaboration just felt totally incomplete.
Audience: Was is super bad? No. Was it good? No. It just doesn't bring much of anything to the table, and what is brought to the table is unconventional and vague, so there's really nothing to merit recommending it. You can read it, but it is incredibly hollow and struggles to even serve as a basic icebreaker.
Content Warnings: deadname, sadness
Well, this did the job of being About Chris, no more, no less. We are in the perspective of Nina the pre-k teacher who has a great student named Chris, who has all kinds of interests and is a playful and outwardly masculine reading child. It goes through him drawing super heroes every day, dressing up as a prince to play with the princesses, he's super fast, and a courageous leader. When a visitor comes and asks who that great boy is, the teacher introduces him with his deadname, upsetting Chris. This prompts a conversation between the teacher and Chris, and the teacher asks if he believes he's "really a boy", and Chris explains that "belly button down" he "is a girl", and "belly button up" he is a boy. The teacher listens and tells Chris she understands and believes him. The story ends here and goes into "wonder wisdom" which is a series of questions to think about based on the story.
I think the wonder wisdom section could have been integrated into the very short story to make it a bit more robust. Chris isn't necessarily misgendered in the story, but the wisdom elaborates slightly that his deadname is his 'girl' name. Having this context shown in the story could help to really distinguish as well that Chris is a trans boy, not just gender nonconforming.
Summary:
Readability: ★★★☆☆, It was easy to read, but there just wasn't much to work with. Chris is explicitly deadnamed on page once, and a lot of the wording is clunky and not the most mindful and inclusive.
Entertainment: ★☆☆☆☆, The lack of context for anything as well as no story besides the student Chris is trans, which gets questionable and nearly zero elaboration just felt totally incomplete.
Audience: Was is super bad? No. Was it good? No. It just doesn't bring much of anything to the table, and what is brought to the table is unconventional and vague, so there's really nothing to merit recommending it. You can read it, but it is incredibly hollow and struggles to even serve as a basic icebreaker.
Content Warnings: deadname, sadness
September 13, 2019
Helpful
This book is going to be so useful! We use her books in my Unitarian congregation. Because they are on Kindle, we can project them onto the screen so everybody can see the pictures and the words.
This book is going to be so useful! We use her books in my Unitarian congregation. Because they are on Kindle, we can project them onto the screen so everybody can see the pictures and the words.
July 12, 2018
It was ok. Where are all the Trans FTM books???
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews