This book was stunning and so important for kids everywhere. Gender is such a difficult topic that has a lot of breakdowns, but seeing it laid out so clearly was really well done (I learned something too). I truly loved this book and I feel like it is really important for kids in our society. I also loved the illustrations and the colors. It had a really playful vibe that complimented the message perfectly.

I think this is such a great tool for everyone- regardless of age. I knew about maybe a handful of these terms- a lot of them I didn't even know they existed. I wish I would have grown up with a tool like this, I think it could have helped me with a lot of relationships in high school and college. At the end of the book, Devika Dalal mentions how children prefer to hear concepts like this from trusted adults. Learning these terms now will hopefully help teach my own kids and other adults in my family.

I love the idea of this book and think it will be essential to many young readers, however, I feel that some of the language used could be tweaked or a disclaimer added saying gender expression/experience is not a catch-all experience. This book will be a great help to young readers as to be empathetic to their peers or understand themselves better.

Books like this absolutely need to exist, and I love that this book normalizes discussing gender identity with young children.

My understanding of gender identity continues to grow, and I learned things from this book. In general, I think it's a good reference, even for adults.

I do think that there's a bit of a mismatch between the audience for this book and the language used in this book. A lot of the definitions given included vocabulary and concepts much beyond what would be expected of a 5 year old (association, overlapping, typical, surgical), and that using this book to discuss gender identity with children requires a stronger adult knowledge of the concepts in this book to be able to simplify, explain, and answer questions. (For example, the definition not queer limiting to gender identity [which I know is the context of this book] without acknowledging that the term is also commonly used within the context sexual orientation may lead to confusion if the child/adult didn't have that foundational knowledge to clarify.)

I was unclear what the AQ in brackets on some pages indicated and couldn't find a key.

The illustrations did not contribute much to the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this e-book in exchange for an honest review! I really didn't know what to expect when I opened this book. I think I was anticipating something more like a children's picture book, based on the cover? And I'm not sure if the fact that I received the book as a kindle e-book changed anything about the format, but I really wish it had a little more. It was, essentially, a few pages of introduction, a list of gender identities (some of which I had never heard of before and was interested to see), and a short conclusion. I feel like I was expecting more. More color, or some drawings perhaps? It would have been nice to see some of the flags and colors that I know exist for certain gender identities in tandem with their definitions, or some basic drawings. It's entirely possible that those things exist in the final version of this and that we simply don't get them in the digital ARC, but based on the cover visuals, I thought it would be a little more colorful. And while I do on one hand appreciate the simplicity of the definitions, often only one sentence, it would also be nice to have a little more information behind each gender identity. I'm rating it three stars because I learned something new and I appreciated feeling included, seeing my own gender identity defined in an easy way that is helpful, but overall I wish it had a little more.

Pros: Although this book is marketed for young readers, I think this is a necessary read for all ages. Adults need to be educated about gender identity just as much as children do. (I learned new terms when reading this book!) I think children’s books are a great place for adults to begin when wanting to learn more about something. Children’s books offer a simplified foundation that can inspire deeper research by readers of all ages. When reading this book, I especially enjoyed the bold, colorful, and inclusive illustrations.

Cons: None that I know of—this is an area where I am still learning, so I do not have the knowledge to criticize the information included in the book.

I do suggest that children read this with an adult so they can ask questions and talk about what they are learning from the book. (In the introduction, the author also recommends this.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Kinglsey Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

ABC of Gender Identity is intended as a guide for caregivers to read with their children. It does have a helpful section for parents at the end of the book on how to talk further with their kids. The actual ABCs part of it was something that I think kids would have a hard time - some of the terminology used within the definitions was pretty advanced for most adults, let alone children. The illustrations are spare and flat. I think the idea of this book is great, it just doesn't really feel like it's intended for kids at all. However, I will still recommend the purchase for my library because it does cover a lot of different gender identities that are not covered in other books.

Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read the book ABC of Gender Identity prior to publication. The book intrigued me instantly and I was very surprised by how many identifications I was not aware of and hadn’t heard before. The book is almost exactly what it sounds like - a non-threatening book that displays the alphabet A-Z in colourful lettering and defines each identity in the simplest ways. I would never have known there is over 26 gender identities.

While the book is clearly geared towards children and their parents to help navigate the important topic of gender identity, as an adult I found it thoroughly worth the read and would recommend it for adults looking to understand more about gender identity.
At the end of the book is helpful discussion points to assist adults with talking about gender identity with their children.

#ABCofGenderIdentity #Netgalleyreview

This book will be extremely challenging for younger children to understand. When you think of ABCs, you generally think of the alphabet and learning. While this book was informative, it struggled to get the major point across. A 3 year old will struggle with understanding this book and its material. I think more pictures would be helpful or even conversations between people as they go...more story like will be easier to understand.

i thought i would read ABCs of gender to my nieces but after reading it, i don't think so. the pictures were SHIT and i dont understand how a 3 yr old is going to understand what witchgender is

its such a low effort book... its unreal it legit looks like someone got the paint tool out. i could do a better job explaining transgender people to my nieces with impromptu sock puppets

the advice to adults page is also incredibly low effort. i thought it would help me come up with questions to ask children but what do you think a child would answer to, "do you know anyone who identifies as witchgender?" of course they fucking haven't? i didn't even know what it was until i read the book! there should be explainers for these terms for adults at the end so we can give insightful answers to children.

I love the concept of this book. I also really enjoyed the simple and colorful illustrations. However, I think there needs to be more text and information to supplement the terms in this book. I also think it would be better if the language was more accessible for children. Some of the wording "fluctuates" and "associates" in the definitions seem at too high of a level for a child to understand. I realize that an adult would preferably reading with them but that also gives the adult even more to breakdown and explain with the child.

ABC of Gender Identity by Devika Dalal is a book aimed at children but is suitable for all ages. Gender identity, sexuality, disability, families, race, religion and illness are just some of the important topics I feel should be discussed more, both in a general sense and on a deeper level, with adults and with children. This book is the perfect starting point to learn about gender identity for yourself and with children. There are so many terms in this book that I had not heard of before reading and I would have previously said I was fairly knowledgeable on the topic. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about gender identity. To be able to learn about these terms with children and other people provides them with an incredible opportunity to become more accepting of everyone and their identities. There are not many books like this out there in the world and there should be more.

Books like this are a clear example of how powerful literature can be and it should be appreciated and utilised greater than it currently is. This book is for everybody. It shrinks the taboo, raises awareness, improves education and is a fantastic little book. The only thing I think would be a fantastic addition to the current content of the book is some illustrations to accompany each term mentioned, so enhance the learning and understanding of each term.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my own, honest opinion.

Introducing adults and children to gender identity is fast becoming necessary. While I am familiar with a lot of these gender identities, there were a few which I have not heard, because they are either not commonly used or haven't been popularised by the mainstream media, so I did appreciate learning of these new gender identities.
I think the use of a book to encourage discussion between parents/carers with children who may be questioning their gender identity or even those who would like to learn more, is a great idea.

So while I appreciate the overall concept of the book, I think the execution of it was a little off. To me the illustrations and style of the book appeared to be skewed to preschool age, as opposed to a 5+ year old age to which it is targeted. I think it could've done without the illustrated characters altogether. Instead, more information on each gender identity, even going as far as providing some sort of example, would have been more helpful for both parents who aren't familiar with gender identities and for children who are questioning their own gender identities.

Received a copy of ABC of Gender Identity to review from Netgalley. The book is colourful, but the illustrations resemble something from paint. Not my favourite, but for a children’s book it’s important to note. I started reading this book with my 4 year old and then had trouble explaining some of the terminology as some of it was new to myself. I’m not sure what age group it’s geared towards, but as an ABC book I figured toddlers and up. I’d recommend parents read over it once or twice before and the handy guide at the end, so that they can better prepare themselves to explain the book as Gender Identity isn’t as explained in this depth on a normal basis as much as it should be. Parents and Children will both learn a lot from this book, just wish the illustrations had a bit more texture and depth.

First off, I didn't realize there was an entire alphabet of terms for gender identity - shows how much I know. Very enlightening, but it's amazing to know that there are books like this out there to help explain these terms and empower kids to embrace them.

ABC of Gender Identity is an alphabetical list of terms related to gender. The terms include many that are not yet widely used, and thus could be a good resource for those hoping to learn more about gender identity.

The text of the book reads very much like a glossary. Although the book is marketed toward young readers, there has been little to no attempt made to to turn academic definitions into language that young children can understand/relate to. While the bright colors are visually appealing, the simple illustrations on each page are reminiscent of free clip art. I would not recommend this book in it's current version to teachers or parents of young children.

This is an interesting book. I think it's a nice resource to have. I have not seen another book like this and can really help with the discussion on different genders.

This picture book was short, sweet and very educational! It not only provides vital information regarding gender identity that many children (and adults, for that matter!) would greatly benefit from, but normalizes identities separate from allocishet. This book is a game-changer, and I'd absolutely love to see this in classrooms, daycares and households across the country!

Kids often ask their parents questions that they feel uncomfortable about or unprepared to answer. Children can learn about LGBT people through this book. Educational and approachable for kids, but I think there should be more. Tho it was fine for the kids, very colorful. This came with 26 gender identities listed within it. For each letter of the alphabet, a term related to gender identity is named and defined in a very brief manner. It’s both a super helpful and accessible place to start for young people who are dipping their toes into the LGBTQIA+ water. A fantastic crash course in LGBT+ terms, identities, and concepts.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC
Expected Publication: 21st June 2021

I have always loved the books similar to these such as ‘The ABC of Equality’. So when I saw this one, I thought I’d give it a go. Obviously, I’m an adult and not the target audience as such.

Some of the gender identities in this book, I’ve never heard of before and after reading them, I was left more confused. After trying to search online for more of an understanding, all that came up was a couple of tumblr blogs. I know that the book can’t go into too much detail where it’s aimed at young children, but I would have liked a bit more information, or even a ‘similar to’, so I could easier understand them. I have no idea how I would answer questions if a child asked me if I can’t find much more information elsewhere. I would have loved additional trustworthy resources listed in the back so I could research more, or even a list of books for further reading.

This would be a good introduction for a conversation into the confusing world of gender identity, and I appreciate what this book was trying to do, but it felt a little aimless. It feels like the author was just trying to find any label to fill in the specific letter in the alphabet.

I did like the guide for adults at the end of the book though and I found that the questions could be helpful. I liked what the book was trying to do, but I don’t think it did it successfully