Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Introducing Teddy: A gentle story about gender and friendship by Jessica Walton -ESSENTIAL

Walton, Jessica Introducing Teddy: A gentle story about gender and friendship, Illustrated by Macpherson, Dougal. PICTURE BOOK. Bloomsbury, 2016. $16.99. Content: G

Thomas the teddy wears a bow tie and does everything with his best friend, the boy Errol. One day Thomas is sad and finally reveals to Errol that he knows he is a girl teddy bear and he wants to be called Tilly, she is terrified that Errol will end their friendship over this. Errol tells him that their friendship is the only thing that matters. Their friend Ava accepts the change and they all have fun together. Features simple illustrations.

This book is incredibly heartwarming. It could be billed as a gender identification book, but at its heart, its truly a book about friendship and acceptance. Even at an elementary school, Gender identification can easily be a part of your demographic, you might not know it yet. I would buy this book even if I never came across a student facing that decision, the story and lesson here are just lovely.  The illustrations are tender and adorable.

EL(K-3), EL –ESSENTIAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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