Joy excitedly awaits her big brother Noah so the two can bake cookies together, but when Noah gets home he is bullied by a neighbor and some friends. Joy feels sick and scared; she doesn't know what to do. Joy tells her mom about the incident and her mom helps her figure out how to become an ally. She and her best friend Elliott decide to host a bake sale for Noah's teen center.

This simple story is a great way to introduce children into allyship. Joy is lifted up by other allies and lgbtqia+ folx when she confronts the bully who made her feel sick and scared in the beginning of the story. In the end, she has learned that allyship is ongoing and it includes standing up to bullies, inclusion, and staying the course. The back matter includes a note to grown up allies that includes important information.

I recommend this book to anyone who is an ally and wants to instill these principles in their children. This book is a great refresher for those who may have forgotten some of the tenets of allyship.

Pride and Joy is a celebration of love and those that are there to support you. This book teaches young people about standing up and being proud of who you are. I really like the key message of supporting those who need your help and always speak up for them when they can’t.

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This one didn't do it for me. I can't imagine reading this to my child and expecting them to understand it when there's three pages of notes for me, the adult, to make sure I understand it. I also didn't understand how they didn't see the irony in her yelling to that kid that everyone is included there, but it was obviously a stunt to make him go away, meaning he's not included. The illustrations were actually kind of creepy, IMO. I don't think this is a great book for kids.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for this honest review.

Frank J. Sileo's Pride and Joy is a lovely picture book aimed at early school-aged children to inspire them to stand up for the LGBTQIA+ community and become an ally.

Filled with ideas on how this younger sibling can support for her queer brother, Joy's friends and family rally around her to help raise money through a bake sale.

I enjoyed the informative intro by Vanessa Williams, the helpful info by the author at the end, and Emmi Smid's illustrations are quite appealing. The cookies look absolutely yummy, and I love the clever placement of the Pride flags.

An excellent addition to every library.

Pride and Joy is the story of a sister who wants to embrace the role of being an LGBTQ+ ally after her brother and his boyfriend are called names by a group of bullies. She has discussions with her mother and friends about what it means to be an ally and ensures that her actions are appreciated and necessary to her brother. The colour in this book is so wonderful and it will teach children lots of great lessons about unity and empathy.
The section at the back for parents to teach their children about LGBTQ+ topics is also amazing and the prompt questions will allow for really open and honest conversations that will definitely build trust and build an open dialogue between parents and children!

This was an adorable book. I loved the art style (it almost reminded me of children’s art, which I’m sure was intentional). Most of all I appreciated that it has an entire section in the back of the book for adult allys, guiding them on how to make real change. The moral is one that both children AND adults can learn from.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely introduction for a young person (between Y2 to Y4) to learn about allyship. The illustrations were beautiful and the story had enough problem/solution scenario to make the story accessible without being daunting.

However, the audience could have been shown more of the teen centre, shown how these safe spaces are used. But, of course, there can always be a sequel.

This book is such a lovely way for kids to learn about what it means to be an LGBTQIA+ ally. It has a simple but beautiful storyline which makes it easy for small kids to understand what the story is about. The drawings in the book are very colorful and beautiful, which adds well to the story. The pride flags are shown multiple times which I think is a good thing in this book. I also love the fact that the book shows all kinds of different flags for different groups of people. It is very clear in the drawings when the bully came along, because the pictures are less colorful there. This also helps kids to understand what is happening.

The last bit of the book is very helpful and I love that this is included in the book! It gives tips for parents / educators / any other adults reading this book with (their) children on understanding what it means to be an ally to people and groups they are not a part of and also other ways to foster allyship in children. I think this, as well as the questions that are written in the book to talk about before, during and after reading this book, can be very helpful for parents.

I highly recommend reading this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the ARC.

I want to start of this review by stating how happy I am a book like this exists. Some people might say that allies should not demand their own representation, but a book like this might be crucial reading for young people who have lgbt folks in their lives: siblings, cousins, close family friends.... It does a good job in showing how they might be affected by seeing the pain of their loved ones, and in turn it explains how to stand with them in a way that children might understand. Combined with charming illustrations, this is an approachable way to introduce a child that might feel helpless against the pain of others to a way to help.
All that said, I think the book takes some knowledge for granted that the target audience I just described would not understand. What stood out to me was how it specified "the progress pride flag", which is politically very correct, but might add an extra layer of complexity that I do not think is needed, or indeed beneficial, here. I would also have liked if the book went into what the teen centre mentionned actually means to miguel and why it is a worthy cause. As I am an adult reader who is familiar with these kinds of instances, it makes sense to me, but for a child only just introduced to this part of the world it might be a vague concept. An extra line like "That is where Miguel and his boyfriend hang out to avoid the bullies" or something would have gone quite far.
I might be going into this too far, but that is mostly because I want to see books like this do the best they can. And things do not improve without critism. They are important. This book is important and should find places in libraries and classrooms. This is a brilliant step in children's literature.

I’m really impressed by Pride and Joy. I appreciated that it focused on allyship requiring action in addition to words. I also thought it was important that Joy valued her brother’s opinion about her choice to sell cookies to raise money for the youth center. The back matter for adults to learn how to be allies and to teach kids to be allies is really well done.

I unexpectedly enjoyed this. This is an easy introduction to allyship and what it can look like on a smaller scale for children - and this is in terms of doing bake sales and speaking up against bullies asking questions. The main character's brother is Gay and appears to be more than comfortable with his sexuality and in a relationship with his partner. It is also nice to see that the brother is probably in middle school while the main character is probably in grades K-4 (?) The back also contains definitions + discussion questions + resources on allyship which I loved because it takes a lot of effort for people to go out and do their own research unless given to them. I can imagine reading during a rainbow storytime in June and taking advantage of the discussion questions to rework them into something potentially more generalize but focused on helping others. This is really great!

Short and sweet. This cute little book is an important resource for teaching children how to be allies to the LGBTQ+ community. Despite being aimed at children, there is a guide for grown up allies towards the end of the book with tips on how to be respectful to and support the LGBTQ+ community. There are also some discussion questions at the back, which are a great way to check in and see what the child you read this with has learnt, and to continue to discussion on allyship.

I think book is excellent in introducing children into how they came be an ally for groups they are not a part of - in this case LGBTQIA+

And not only is this done by doing a bake sale but also the message that whilst these passive forms of allyship are helpful - especially if it helps raise money for LGBTQIA+ organisations - it's more important for us to use our voice too and not be afraid to stand up with and for those we love who *are* part these marginalised groups.

I also loved the note to adults at the end so that we can better inform and educate ourselves so we can set a proper example for our children to follow.

Pride and Joy is a celebration of family love and support. Of standing up and being proud of who you are and who your loved ones are.
A joy to have in the classroom.

Super cute book that helps not only teach kids but adults too on how to be a good ally. I really like the touch at the end of it about how adults can be better allies and how they can help their own kids become good allies. We need more books like these around, so I'm glad to see a picture book like this get published. Every parent, whether part of the LGBTQIA+ community or just allies should pick up a copy of this. The art style felt muddled to me, but that didn't distract me from the beauty of the story

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, bullying

Representation: Gay

Pride and Joy is a picture book that focuses on the importance of allyship. Joy learns what it means to be an ally when some kids bully her brother for being gay. With her friends, Joy sells Pride cookies to donate the money to the local teen center.

What a fantastic story! I love the idea of showing kids how we all identify differently and the importance of respect. This book provides an age appropriate lesson about being an ally. I absolutely loved this story and the illustrations were amazing!

Frank J. Sileo and Kate Lum-Potvin keep it simple - as it should be. A bully comes on the scene and yells horrible things at Joy’s brother and Joy doesn’t know what to do about it. Joy asks her mother and her mom explains about being an ally.

Then Joy works on how to do just that, BUT first checks with Noah to make sure that the action she is taking is okay with him. This is just the best.

The illustrations are simple. The negative thoughts are in black and grey and positive ones are in color. This is a quick and easy read. Plus who doesn’t love cookies.

The authors include a list of resources and books in the back of the book for parents and readers to find out more ways to learn and help. There is a list of questions and conversation topics to engage your child with to assist them in understanding how to be an ally.

Pride and Joy is a great inclusion to the rainbow library and should be on school and library bookshelves to help share the knowledge.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

In this book, Joy learns what it means to be an ally to the Rainbow Mafia after seeing her brother and his boyfriend being picked by the next door neighbor. She wants to do something to help, so she puts on a bake sale to help raise money for the local teen center where her brother goes to hang out.

There was more bigoted drama at the bake sale, but Joy stood up to the bullies and helped show that there are lots of allies out there. And they sold all their cookies, well except for the ones that Joy was saving to celebrate with.

The illustrations had kind of a fuzzy quality to them, as they were colored lightly with colored pencils. And they were obviously super colorful

The real highlight of this book is the additional info and resources listed at the end, both for allies and Rainbow Mafia members. Info about organizations that help or lend support in times of need.

Overall I give this book 4.6 out of 5 stars.

This is a great book to introduce the idea of allyship. It’s a simple, relatable story. The book also includes notes with tips for adult allies as well as discussions questions for before, during and after reading. Perfect for any parent or teacher to add to their collection.

I used this book with my Anti-Bulllying Ambassadors as part of their assembly series about respect. They and the children they read it to really enjoyed it and found it a clear way to explain what being an ally means. We discussed how Joy was an ally to her brother and others in the LGBTQ+ community and the importance of being an ally to other communities too. The story was written in a way that makes it easy for even young children to understand as the language is clear. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to promote respect for all and that being an ally includes standing up when something is wrong.