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Essential Books for Teaching Kids About Sex/Gender
Queer-inclusive children’s books you can read with pride
Sex Vs. Gender
Sex and Gender aren’t the same thing. Body parts determine your sex, but gender is how you think of and present yourself. When a baby’s born, we almost always know their sex, but gender is something they’ll define for themselves throughout their life.
Who are You? The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity
by Brook Pessin-Whedbee, illustrated by Naomi Bardoff
I can’t recommend this book enough. Who are You? gives both children and adults the language and space to learn and talk about gender. It explains that grown-ups make a guess when a baby is born by looking at their body, but as kids grow up, they can tell us their gender, and this might change over time. Kids might feel like a boy, a girl, both, neither, or “just me.”
One of our favorite pages just has a room full of toys and the words, “What do you like?” Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we make assumptions about what our kids will be into; this book gives them a…
