Phoenix Goes to School

I think it's great that we are getting more diverse books for kids. This is a sometimes difficult and confusing topic to talk with kids about but I always felt kids are smarter and more understanding than we give them credit for. I think this could be a good intro for kids about the topic of transgender identity. It would be great to get more own voices reviews.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best books for young children that explains what it feels like to be a girl trapped in a boy's body I have seen so far. It's made all the better because the story is told by a real child in this situation, and it's aim is to express her very real and valid fears about starting school and how the other children will react to 'a boy wearing a dress'. And the illustrations are amazing. I really hope that this is the first in a series and Phoenix writes more books. Well done, Kiddo!

Review to be posted in July on my blog/other places I post my reviews.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

This was a beautiful book, just as I had hoped when I requested it on Netgalley. It is about a girl named Phoenix. She is about to start her new school and is extra scared about going to school and wearing one of her pretty dresses. Now I hear you wonder why this is so scary?

Well, Phoenix is not born as a girl, she is actually born as a boy. We know that kids (but also adults) can be cruel, so Phoenix is worried they may bully her for wearing a dress. She is worried they may call her a boy, or make fun of her. My heart went out to this girl. So I found it very brave that she still wore her dress when she went to school. She could have just dressed up in other clothes, but no this girl wanted to wear her dress and so it shall be. Go girl!

Thankfully she also has an amazing mom who motivates her and tells her she is good as she is. So fabulous that the mom is so supportive and sweet. Go mom!

I am very delighted with how her first day went, how accepting everyone was and how sweet they were. I am sure she is going to have a wonderful time in school.

Of course the book isn't just about going to school, but it also shows us why Phoenix loves dresses, and what else she loves to do.

I also loved the art, it was quite pretty.

Plus points to the last pages of the book with questions for kids, some information for grown-ups, and also some talking points.

All in all, a book I would highly recommend to everyone. This one should definitively be featured in classrooms.

This children’s book was written by Michelle Finch, the mother of Pheonix, a real-life young girl who just so happens to be transgender. As the title suggests, it is a tale about this dress-loving child, 7 years-old, and how she battles the anxieties of going to school for the first time.

This picture book is cutely illustrated, and I believe that it should be read to every child, gender-nonconforming or not. It teaches a valuable lesson about kindness and acceptance. This story is important because it teaches children and parents that being kind to someone and allowing them the space to be themselves can go a long way to how a child perceives herself/himself/themself.

Representation matters. It is important for young children to have someone to look up to, someone that will let them know that everything is okay, that what you’re feeling and who you are is normal.

The writing in itself is simple. The story is short and sweet. As stated, it follows the anxieties she encounters before going to her first day of school. She is worried about how she will be perceived when she arrives at school, since she was born as male. The reception to her presence is wholly positive. It moves one’s heart greatly.


Rating: 4.5 Stars

This book is amazing. It’s so cute. I honestly think this a book every kid should read at least once. The fact that her parents were accepting and supportive, that she made friends without any judgment for her being herself. This is the ideal world we all dream of. This is for sure one of my new favorite children’s books.

Melanie Gillman, a queer cartoonist who wrote "As the Crow Flies", was asked by a white, heterosexual man, what the point of reading her LGBTQ comics was for him. At the time, she said, she gave him a pat answer of "well, it is good to read about people that are different than you", but what she really wanted to say was "I'm not writing this for you."

This is how I feel about this book. While it is important for straight cis gendered people to read about transgendered children, this book is really written for those children out there that feel they are all alone. That feel that no one else feels the way they do, and there must be something wrong with them. That is who this book is for, as well, as the cis gendered folk out there.

This is a gentle picture book, written on a little transgender girl named Phoenix. It is a very straightforward explanation of how she feels, and how scared she is about her first day of school. And as her mother says to her, only you know yourself.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-385" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2018-04-12-at-11.18.37-PM.png" alt="Phoenix goes to school" />

Good book to have in the classroom. Good for Cis and gender fluid children. Bright colors and easy to read story.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

#PhoenixGoesToSchool #NetGalley

*Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.*

This is a short children’s book but it’s importance is HUGE. This book won’t just help kids who are transgendered but all kids. It’s a great way to introduce the idea of gender and being true to how you feel.

The illustrations are so wonderful and light and each page made me smile.

A really heartwarming book, perfect for its audience. Short, sweet, and straight to the point, a must for any school classroom. These topics are really important to educate the next generation on, and picture/story books are undoubtedly the best way to go about this. I loved this, I just wish it had been a little longer!

I was sent this book in advance from net galley and I was not disappointed. This book is easy to read and very beautifully drawn. Phoenix is a girl who was born a boy she does a lot of things like draw and play. She's scared on her first day of school that older kids will make fun of her but when she gets there she makes friends with Mia and the other kids in her class. She ends up having fun me isn't bullied.

I found this book easy to read and great for parents and kids to learn about trans and gender fluid kids without a lot of the technical stuff. It's easy to understand and a fun read.

"Phoenix Goes to School" is highly necessary for children who do not identify with a typical binary gender. This book is affirming for children who struggle with anxiety about the ways that other people will perceive their gender.
Bonus: it is also a great informational tool for children and adults to learn more about the transgender and nonbinary population.

I received an advance read copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is obviously written from the heart and is wonderful way to start a conversation with your children about the anxiety that comes from being different. It is honest in its appoach about how a child may feel about being themselves, and being worried that they may be bullied for being themselves.

This is a beautiful little book, as I hoped it would be, and it didn't disappoint at all. The story is told through the mother of a transgender girl using her own words to tell it, which makes it far more valid than anything someone other than trans could have written. Most children fear their first day of school, but children know more than they're given credit for, as I remember well, and when they know they don't conform to the traditional ways society unfortunately clings to, they are often aware of it, which makes this child's fears and anxieties so very valid.

The story itself is short and simple, it doesn't explain the concept of being transgender beyond that of what a seven year old would understand and experience, which makes it more authentic, and although it is written and aimed for children of a similar age, many adults would learn a lot from it as well. So, short and sweet, and straight to the point, which is that this little girl may have been assigned male at birth, as her physical sex is that of a male, but as far as her gender goes, as her own identity goes, she is very much female. She's not confused, not going through a passing phase, though it's possible her gender identity will change a little as she grows, not because she's not what she knows she is now, but because as we grow and learn and experience, we discover new words for things, to describe how we feel, and society insists we must label every aspect of it, though we get to choose the right words for ourselves, whether they're pre-determined labels or ones we use for ourselves, it doesn't matter. But, for the time being, she knows who she is, perhaps more than a lot of adults ever will, and she's happy with that person. All she longs to do is start school along with the other children and to fit in and be accepted for who she is, and not simply seen as the boy in the dress when she's clearly anything but. It's written well, clear enough for young children to understand and follow, and it touches on the subject in the right way rather than throwing words and terms and labels around that a child that young may or may not understand. It works. And the pictures are beautifully drawn with bright, vibrant colours during much of the story, for the positive moments, and pale, drained colours on the brief moments of fear and anxiety expressed, and the gender negative moments, which is a nice touch - it shows the artist also understands how this little girl is feeling. Plus, there's a lot of diversity in the friends Phoenix makes as well, the skin tones and appearances, the names, they all show diversity of race and culture, which adds to how amazing this book already is. It suggests that everyone can and should be accepted, no matter how different they are from everyone else or what those differences are, and it's a strong, positive message to send out there.

The imagery is beautiful as well, the flowers a nice touch, differing in colours, like the colours of the rainbow, and although it's not explicitly worded, that's the image I got in my mind, of the rainbow, a symbol for everyone no matter where they fall within the LGBTQ+ community, and I liked that, it was a nice touch.

And despite the fact there's not supposed to be too much of a personal touch to these reviews, I would like to add that, as a genderqueer/non-binary person myself, and as someone who always knew that I was different as far as gender was concerned even if I didn't have the words for it, I wish a book like this could have been around at the time I was starting school in the early nighties. I was put in dresses as a child, but I only tolerated them up to the age of five before I began to defile them in the hopes of never having to wear another, and eventually my mum caught on to that message. I rebelled against the fact I was AFAB from day one, but there were no names and labels to put into words to describe why I felt and thought and did those things, and something as simple as access to a book like this, that I could have shown to people and gone, 'Look, this is how I feel, this is why I am the way I am, and I want to be accepted this way', but instead I've more or less lived a life being referred to as a female and treated like a female, and I've never felt that way once in my life. A book like this could have prevented many years of thinking and feeling like I'm broken, that there's something wrong with me, as I know many others experience. It took me until I was twelve and in my second year of secondary school before I switched skirts for trousers despite it not being the code, and I took the orders and detentions, and all the hateful comments from the teachers who saw me as a problematic troublemaker who enjoyed breaking rules - I didn't enjoy breaking rules, just the stupid ones, and only the ones that prevented me from feeling comfortable in my own skin, that forced me to dress as something I've never been.

So, yes, something as simple as a book at a young age could have a huge impact on someone experiencing those thoughts and feelings, who are said to be one thing, but who know that they're another. Whether transgender, genderqueer, non-binary - it doesn't matter, the world needs access to more information on gender, and children as young as Phoenix should be taught that sex and gender are two different things, as are gender and sexual orientation, information that should reach parents to help teach the younger generations of these differences and the tolerance of them to go with it, as well as learning a thing or two themselves, and that it's all right not only to be a different gender to the sex you were assigned at birth. But that it's all right to be different in other ways, too, that everyone is different in one way or another, even if some differences aren't as obvious as others, or some are more accepted than others, and I think this book is a beautiful way to start. I do hope that Phoenix writes more books, either adding to her journey as the years go by, or expressing other diversities she understands and wants her friends to, too, and I hope that others are inspired to write stories of their own - it would be nice to see a story from a trans boy's perspective, or a child or young person who sits somewhere else along the gender spectrum. And books similar to this expressing the different kinds of love people experience, inclusive of all sexual orientations, but told in a way that a young child would be able to understand and follow, so that when they get older, they don't see anything out of the ordinary if a same-sex couple are being openly affectionate in one way or another around them. It's small gestures like those this book offers that make a huge difference in the long-run, and I think Phoenix is brave for taking that huge leap into the world, so well done, Phoenix, and to everyone who's supported her and others like her.

People within our community don't often get a lot of representation, and when we do it's rare that it's in a positive light, which is damaging to us and to the way the world looks upon us. But this is a beautiful and brave book from someone so young, and I'd like to share with you my appreciation for allowing this to be published, because I think this book and others similar to it are what the world sorely lacks - positive representation, first-hand representation, and general representation that spreads information into the world for those who don't know or understand can learn and, hopefully, accept us for human beings rather than this or that. So, thank you, for allowing this book to be, and for putting it out into the world. It's perfect.

Finch, Michelle. Phoenix Goes to School. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018.

Phoenix is going to school for the first time, and she is wearing a dress. She is nervous about the way her classmates will react to her since she is transgender, but she need not have worried. She has support from her family, her teacher, and her new friends.

This is a cute book to introduce young children to the concept of gender diversity. Co-written by a transgender child and her parent, this book is appropriate for its age level, although the story tends to go a big longer than many children would have patience for. Colorful illustrations grace every page. This would be a good book to use in a classroom situation along side I Am Jazz or Red: A Crayon's Story. Recommended.

Recommended for: kids
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Heartwarming and simple, and it makes me hopeful that RL can be this simple for trans/questioning/fluid children of this young an age, with the support of loving parents. I think it all stems from education and acceptance and this mum is doing a great job.

A lovely and simple story about a transgender child’s first day at school. She worries that people won’t like her dress, or won’t like her. She has fears just like every child. A great introduction for school kids, and those younger about who people are, and that everyone is special. I really like that this is a true story and the girls picture is in the end. It helps the reader to know that everything is okay.

Phoenix goes to school is a really short and cute book about a trans girl who is scared of what people will think of her in school and being bullied by older students. I loved the story and the fact that it’s based on an actual trans kid’s experience and I thought the way being trans is explained both in the story and on the back in a for grownups version were really good, definitely recommend this for any fellow children book lovers and it’s definitely going on the top of the list of books I recommend to people who either work with trans kids or are thinking about coming out as trans to children.

Phoenix is about to start a new school, but she's worried if the other kids will make fun of her for wearing a dress.

This children's picture book is short and compassionate. The story is told by Phoenix, a trans girl, with help from her mother (the two authors). The text is simplistic but deep in emotions, particularly as Phoenix worries about the other kids bullying her and not accepting her, but she is surprised to find that the other kids treat her exactly like the others, are really nice to her, and compliment her dress. She's able to be herself.

Sharon Davey's whimsical illustrations compliment the text and emphasize the metaphor running throughout the book: Flowers (children), are all different and beautiful in their own way, and should be loved as they are. It's a lovely message, even if it's a bit simplistic (although this is a children's book).

Most helpful for children (and grown-ups) are the resources provided at the end of the book. There are talking points and questions adults/storytellers can ask their audience after the book is finished that can help children understand gender diversity, and learn compassion and empathy for their friends.

There're some resources for adults too—honestly, I felt like this was the most important part of the book, since it's generally the adults who have the hang-ups on gender identification and it is their preconceptions and bias that taint their children—which emphasize gender as a social construct that changes as social norms change.

The biggest takeaway for parents is that the best way to raise transgender children (really, any child), is to bring them up in a loving and supporting environment where they can "express themselves in a manner consistent with their gender identity."

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Thank you to Michelle Finch, Phoenix Finch, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and NetGalley for this advanced copy of “Phoenix Goes to School: A Story to Support Transgender and Gender Diverse Children” for an honest review.

I had to jump at this book as soon as I saw it. I am so glad kids books like this are beginning to come into existence, so that children (as well as parents!) will start seeing support for these situations and choices as soon as children are very small. This book is frank, forward, full of feelings, and it nearly made me tear up at the end.

I absolutely want a copy for all of my nieces and nephews already, and they will be getting it as soon as publication happens.

This was a sweet story, but didn't resonate with me as deeply as other lgbtq picture books have. That being said, I love that this story is autobiographical and co-written by mother and daughter. The illustrations and bright and cheerful, and the overall message of the book is positive and can certainly be a great way to engage youngsters in conversations about gender, diversity, and equality.

Perfect way to represent and include transgender identities within a classroom library. This is a wonderful story that all students should read.

Thank you NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this early release copy.

What a cute and simple way to help children learn, understand and accept transgenderism.
I found the talking points at the end of the story especially wonderful.
Giving ideas for both kids and grown-ups on how to open up a dialogue into likes, dislikes, feelings and help reveal any unanswered questions was a fantastic inclusion!
This is certainly a book I hope everyone picks up and discusses.

Seven-year-old Phoenix was assigned male at birth (AMAB). However, this fact doesn’t stop Phoenix from living life in a way that feels right: as a girl. When the time comes, she has to find the courage to start school wearing one of her favourite dresses. Despite her initial fears of how the other children will react, Phoenix is in for a pleasant surprise.

This true story, co-authored by Phoenix herself and her mother, Michelle, has an uplifting message about being be true to yourself in a world where people are quick to judge anyone who doesn’t conform to their ideas of “normal”.

Phoenix is without doubt a brave and inspirational character, and her mother’s loving support and encouragement are evident throughout. Another thing that I liked about the story was that, although Phoenix lives as a girl, she is not shown doing only stereotypically girly things, but also enjoys playing with marble runs and racing cars.

The simple illustrations are vibrant and cheerful.

Extensive back matter includes a page of comprehension questions, some information about gender diversity for adults, talking points for a discussion with children about the themes covered in the book, and a biography of the authors.

I would have liked the story to continue beyond the end, but that’s more to do with my interest in the character than a fault of the authors. I hope they plan to bring out more books about Phoenix!

This is a very warm and simple way to help explain to children about how transgender children might feel - and by simple, I mean that it very clearly shows how the child within this story, Phoenix, is a child like any other who happens to believe that they were born in the wrong sex body.

The illustrations are very nice and provoke the perfect feelings of empathy for Phoenix and the worries that she is going through with going to school. All in all, this a great book to use to help normalise acceptance of trans children in schools, and I would hope to see many stories like this widely available in the very near future.