Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution!

This book is a must for all classrooms, especially with the introduction of the new RSE curriculum.It is so much more than a story-it is a resource regarding transgender rights and lives. The book starts with the basic story of Sylvia and Marsha-their friendship, their desire to help others, the prejudice they faced as they were wearing dresses. The story does not go into a vast amount of detail so is appropriate for younger years. However, following the story there is background to the Stonewall Rebellion and a glossary of terms to support older readers, parents and teachers.There is also a questions section to use in conversations about the topic, resources and signposts to other related books,In this sense, the book could be used by a number of year groups as certain elements are appropriate for certain years.
I enjoyed the fact that the story focused on the friendship, kindness, generosity and determination to challenge prejudice and overcome oppression as opposed to it all being about them being transgender. For me, it demonstrates clearly that transgender people are human beings. This is a key point as still today prejudice exists for transgender people and the more we can educate children (the next generation), the better things will be in the future.

This book is a short read, it's aimed at young children to introduce them to these well-known people in the transgender community, 

The illustrations are full of character and are charming. There isn't a lot of text which is great for young readers. But there is a couple of pages of text for older readers, explaining in a few more details the story behind this piece of history. There is also a glossary of the terms used that people may not be familiar with.

I really like that there are discussions questions for adults to discuss with the child. It will really help them to understand what the book is about. There are also further resources that you can look at with your child and also more books for you to read. 

At the end, there are two activities, one to make a protest sign with your child, and another to make a flower crown like Marsha. I think these are really great additions to the book.