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A review by jennifermreads
My Rainbow by Deshanna Neal, Trinity Neal
3.0
Trinity wants long hair to express who she truly is. Her brother comes up with an idea and he & mom go to the store to buy supplies for a rainbow wig.
How refreshing to have a picture book that joyfully stars a transgender black character. The positivity in the representation is sorely needed on the shelves and undoubtedly the book will be whisked away and shared again and again.
The artwork is vibrant, so bright & colorful. I adored the double-page spread of the rainbow colors in the beauty supply store: a feast of colors for the eyes. I also loved the animation of the pig; pig was everywhere in this story and quite a story within itself.
My hesitation? I’m not sure how old Trinity is supposed to be in the story. It is a picture book so, when I read picture books, I default to “toddler age” in my brain. While Trinity clearly explained she needed long hair to feel like herself, the words “transgender” and “cisgender” seemed to me to be abruptly dropped in conversation. I guess it is to give the feel of “this is what is, this is how it is”? This is obviously not a story about discovering one’s self through identifying gender: Trinity already did that. So, maybe my feeling that the gender words seem out of place/sudden/undefined is my own cisgender-self imagining all the questions that would pour from a child to whom these terms are new?
I do not want to leave the impression that I didn’t like the book. I did. I imagine, though, that some parents will pick it up expecting explanations or instruction – and this is not that book. It is a book that affirms self-identity and it is a needed addition to the picture book collection. As our world is populated with so many different shapes, colors, identities, it is nice to have this title on shelves, making our shelves look like the world around us.
How refreshing to have a picture book that joyfully stars a transgender black character. The positivity in the representation is sorely needed on the shelves and undoubtedly the book will be whisked away and shared again and again.
The artwork is vibrant, so bright & colorful. I adored the double-page spread of the rainbow colors in the beauty supply store: a feast of colors for the eyes. I also loved the animation of the pig; pig was everywhere in this story and quite a story within itself.
My hesitation? I’m not sure how old Trinity is supposed to be in the story. It is a picture book so, when I read picture books, I default to “toddler age” in my brain. While Trinity clearly explained she needed long hair to feel like herself, the words “transgender” and “cisgender” seemed to me to be abruptly dropped in conversation. I guess it is to give the feel of “this is what is, this is how it is”? This is obviously not a story about discovering one’s self through identifying gender: Trinity already did that. So, maybe my feeling that the gender words seem out of place/sudden/undefined is my own cisgender-self imagining all the questions that would pour from a child to whom these terms are new?
I do not want to leave the impression that I didn’t like the book. I did. I imagine, though, that some parents will pick it up expecting explanations or instruction – and this is not that book. It is a book that affirms self-identity and it is a needed addition to the picture book collection. As our world is populated with so many different shapes, colors, identities, it is nice to have this title on shelves, making our shelves look like the world around us.