Stéphanie Boulay

I want to love this book, but I can't get the Kirkus review out of my head. Here's how it ends:

"One weakness in this meandering story is that it positions a gender-normative older sister as a savior to her disempowered, almost speechless gender-creative sibling. Another is that in trim size and page count it appears to be an early chapter book, but lengthy, convoluted sentences make this best suited to reading aloud."

I mean, I can't disagree. This is why Kirkus is my favorite review source. It would be so easy to give this book a pass because the message is so well-intentioned and (IMHO) delivered in a meaningful, creative way. But not Kirkus. Kirkus knows we can do better.… (altro)

Regina's four-year-old brother Riley cries all the time, and she and their father can't understand why. Regina works on figuring out what is bothering Riley and eventually finds a way to help Riley express his full self. Lines: "It's not what your body looks like that's important, it's how you take care of it. And it takes care of you by letting you do what you love to do..." and "...we can express some of ourselves on the outside, but there will always be complicated things inside ourselves that we don't know how to show."… (altro)

I believe this book sets a new standard on what books about being yourself entail. Riley comes from a loving family of a sister and a father. Mom is not in the picture, no reason given. Riley’s sister does everything she can to make Riley stop crying or to come to reason for the tears. Turns out Riley, doesn’t like Riley. What makes this book so successful is that it does not just focus on Riley. Sister gets teased in school for her round belly, and after discovering what it feels like to not like herself she understands more what Riley is going through. And with understanding from their father they start to like and make themselves happy being who they are, but understanding there will still be down days, or others who don’t understand. This book was fantastic. It was a great lesson and a great story. The illustrations work really well and set a tone of hope, love, and understanding.… (altro)