Hey all! My nephew is turning 6 and he’s a great kid. While he’s rough and tumble with his brother, his interests are less so. He’s currently very into Wicked, he wears his hair long, plays chess, and used to dress up like Elsa (the boy loves an Idina Menzel power ballad, and I can’t blame him). Anyway, his family just moved to a small town in the Deep South, and he’s starting to feel different. He’s getting to an age where gender roles (especially down here) are more rigidly defined, and he’s just doing his own thing. I know other kids, maliciously or not, are going to start to comment on his interests and appearance. His parents are super supportive in letting him like things he likes (but also really homophobic so it’s been interesting to watch).
I would love a book that basically just celebrates you for being you. I’m not trying to put labels on him, and I don’t want the book to do that either. I’m basically looking for “sometimes people like different things, and sometimes they like the same thing, and both of those are ok as long as they like themselves” type of vibe. Any suggestions?
by AlternateUsername12
2 Comments
Not even being facetious, look up a banned book list for elementary aged kids! A vast majority of them are on that topic. Examples: Melissa by Alex Gino, the Kitty Corn books by Shannon Hale, and Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. All amazing books! And thanks for helping make sure your nephew feels comfy being himself 🙂
Perhaps Bumblebee Boy or Good Morning Superman? They are both affirming of dressing up and imagination. I wish there were more books like you are describing! When he’s ready for “chapter books,” Better Nate Than Never is a fun comedy about a male theater kid.
Totally off the subject of books- if his town has any theater classes, camps, community theater, etc, he may really like the chance to meet other kids who know who Idina Menzel is.