introducing teddy a gentle story about gender and friendship

The mix of messy and smooth was just something I really, really liked. The fact that every stroke of pencil (or whatever was used – I have no idea being completely unartistic myself) was visible gave such an authentic feel to the images, and the story. It was so lovely to see this complete and utter lack of gender stereotypes that we see so often in kid lit (and other genres, as well).Įvery picture in Introducing Teddy is absolutely gorgeous. Ava doesn’t like bows and builds a robot. Errol likes gardening and having tea parties. Not only is Introducing Teddy about Tilly and her interaction with Errol regarding her being trans, but the gender roles of Errol, and his friend, Ava, are not stereotypical in any way. It was sad to see Tilly so afraid of telling Errol how she really felt, and it was just amazing to see and feel such emotion from a picture book. He says: “I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend.” And then they just keep playing and hanging out. Now, I didn’t really think that Tilly’s friend, Errol, would turn around and be horrible to Tilly, but it was absolutely gorgeous to see him just completely accept Tilly as she is. Tilly is a transgender teddy bear, and the way that this presented is so incredibly lovely. Not only is Introducing Teddy LGBTQIA+ kid lit, which is important in and of itself, but it’s trans kid lit. And, hopefully, people will give it the love it deserves so that publishers know how important it is to have LGBTQIA+ books in all genres. So to see Introducing Teddy being published makes me incredibly happy. I am an advocate for LGBTQIA+ lit in YA (as most of you probably know), but I also know that there is a need for LGBTQIA+ middle grade lit, and also kid lit. I also think that everyone should read it, so here I have a nifty list just for you, detailing all the reasons why Introducing Teddy should be on your TBR. Introducing Teddy was, in one word: gorgeous. A copy of this novel was provided by Bloomsbury Australia & Allen and Unwin for review.

Introducing teddy a gentle story about gender and friendship