Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!

Lindz Amer creates LGBTQ+ and social justice media for kids and families. They wrote, produced, and cohosted Queer Kid Stuff—an original LGBTQ+ educational web series for ages three and up—which The Huffington Post called a “groundbreaking YouTube educational resource.” They host the Rainbow Parenting podcast and wrote Rainbow Parenting, a queer and gender-affirming parenting guidebook for grown-ups, and the picture book Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!. They also write and consult for preschool television. You can find them online at LindzAmer.com.Kip Alizadeh is an illustrator and visual artist. Recent picture books they’ve illustrated include Yamile Saied Méndez’s What Will You Be?/¿Qué Serás?, Fran Manushkin’s Plenty of Hugs, and Lindz Amer’s Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!. When they aren’t creating, they like to DJ, spend time with their cats, and play sports. Kip is nonbinary, queer, Iranian, and English, and lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Visit them at Kipalizadeh.net.

Written in a conversational tone, this book aims to affirm a child’s desire to express gender identity however they want: through clothes, hairstyle, or, as stated by the title, pronouns. Some pronouns will be familiar (she, they) while others are less so (fae, per). The less-common pronouns are mentioned but not explored further. The text is light and airy. The book introduces pronouns by using a metaphor about how cozy the right pronoun choice makes one feel. Examples include a warm cup of cocoa or jumping for the stars. Each page has only one or two dozen words. Sentences can be complex with advanced vocabulary words; this is a book to be read aloud, shared, and discussed. Vibrant illustrations are composed of watercolors and pastels. They depict children of different races in many different outfits and hairstyles engaged in imaginative play. Back matter includes sweet notes from the author and illustrator addressing their inspiration for the book. VERDICT A worthwhile addition to large collections with other books on the subject.