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Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino
As I finished reading this book I was saying out loud to myself: “I like it. I. Like. That.”
This book drew me in to review it. I could not have delayed it if I wanted to. Morris Micklewhite likes his home, pancakes, and lots of things at school, including a tangerine colored dress from the dress up box. He loves the way the tangerine dress makes him think of “the sun, tigers and his mother’s hair.” He puts the tangerine dress on over his pants and black and white striped shirt, and tries different, dressy, heeled shoes from the dress up box on. Morris likes the sound the dress makes when he walks, has a favorite pair of dress shoes that make the sound “click,click, click,” enjoys his nails painted by his mom, but does not like the way boys and girls bully him at school because of the dress.
The text deals accurately with the realistic, antagonistic responses that both girls and boys have to non-conforming gender performance amongst their peers, with girls trying to pull the dress off of Morris’ body, boys excluding him from their games, and both genders verbally taunting him. Isabelle Malenfant’s pen and ink illustrations depthfully present each character’s many layered emotions and Morris’ purposeful, powerful, and vulnerable actions throughout the narrative.
Morris retreats to his home for a few days, taking refuge in his mom’s nurturing, books, puzzles, his cat and his dream. When he returns to school, he carries a painting of his dream with him, and when the boys refuse to allow him entry to their cardboard space ship, he builds one of his own. When the girls try to take the dress from him again, Morris stands up for his right to wear the tangerine dress until he is finished with it. Then, the boys who like the space ship Morris has built better than the one they built, allow Morris to lead him with his imagination and get to know him as an inventive, exploring fellow kid whose fun quotient is more important than the idea that he could change them into girls.
The winning moment of this book after we go through Morris’ journey of social challenges and self acceptance is his self-confidence, expressed in the affirmative exchange he has with a little girl in his class named Becky.
When Becky snips, “Boys don’t wear dresses.”
Morris responds, “This boy does.”
And there he goes. Morris you have the right to be you.
Whether the child you read to, or who reads this, is gender conforming or non-conforming in their play, every child will be able to understand the emotional and psycho-physio pain they have in response to being bullied and not accepted, feeling the need to step away from all peers for a little while to take a rest from bullying, and the importance of their imagination to serve as a self-soothing coping mechanism; the power of their imagination to bring them joy and instill in them a sense of pride in themselves where they may have suffered from the jabs of other children. While the standard formula often works well, one of the unique things about this book as compared to others about bullying or intolerance from children is that there are no proactive adults involved in this children’s dispute. The protagonist and his peers work out their relationships on their own– a plot choice that models independence and self-reliance for the young reader. Without Morris or the narrator saying it, the story conveys the universal message of “I can do.” to readers. (buy)
Recommendation: Highly recommended 3+
Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
When Kathy is Keith by Wallace Wong
Written by a clinical psychologist, this book is more of a short illustrated manual on childhood transgendered identity than a children’s story. It is written in simple language that a child can easily follow but I don’t know how enjoyable it would be for a child to read or have read to them but it would be very valuable to guide a parent and other adults in the life of a child who sees themselves as the opposite gender in the practical steps to take to attend to the identity supportive needs of a trans child. The book starts with an intro to Kathy and the different scenes of her life in which she showed and voiced her interest in being a boy, then moves the reader through the steps that Kathy’s parents take to help Kathy live as a boy at home and at school. At the end of the book there is a short list of resources to support the family with a transgendered identified child.
Recommended Age: 5+ for non transgender identified children; as young as parents feel appropriate for transgendered identified children.
Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Book Review for My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis (Ages 3+)
Heartwarmingly sentimental, a plea for compassion and acceptance of a child who is different and an illustration of a child’s unique life all at once, the reader can feel that this story poured out from a mother’s heart on to the page. Princess Boy loves girl’s clothes and toys. His family loves him and supports him even as others outside the family laugh at him and them. The faceless illustrations make Princess Boy and his family universal. Will you, reader, accept and love Princess Boy?
In addition to being moved by the direct sensitivity of the narrative, the author’s message on the back cover and rear back flap are ones we all need to hear. Written by a mother to educate the children, parents, and teachers who may otherwise have bullied her four-year-old son, My Princess Boy enters your heart and expands it if it’s open and softens it if you were resistant to difference. At the preschool age children are adamantly trying to figure out the details of gender segregation, My Princess Boy involves a child’s senses in the lesson that pink is for boys, too and anybody can like dresses—values that I keep trying to teach my daughter. Whether you borrow it or buy it, it will definitely earn it’s place in your reading space and heart
Diverse Kids Books--Reviews 