My Own Way by Joana Estrella and translated by Jay Hulme

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: I downloaded a digital copy of this book through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

My Own Way is an engaging, easy-to-understand and heartwarming picture book written by Portuguese author Joana Estrela and translated by poet Jay Hulme. The colorful pencil scribble effect of the art shows how many different ways there are for people to look that doesn't have to be restrained by traditional binaries of gender- of course, without throwing kids through jargon about the gender binary just yet. Like many kids books, it preaches kindness and celebration of differences, but to a group that's not often afforded that- trans kids and adults.

Kids are at a pivotal moment in their lives where they're just understanding "pink and blue" and quickly learning how to categorize the people and things around them into boy and girl. This book is a great resource in providing another view with age-appropriate language. I was thrilled that in addition to saying that boys and girls can do whatever hobbies they want (the soccer page spoke to my heart as a little kid who loved soccer but was the only "girl" on the field most days), the book opened up the concept of gender fluidity and nonbinary identities to kids. Again, not in those words, which is probably for the better, but kids are told that everyone has autonomy over their own gender, it's not a set of harsh rules you have to follow.

I loved how the rhyming melody of Jay Hulme's translation makes this feel like any other sweet kids book, and specifically the lines "You can see the different faces/ but the rest is theirs to say" really tugged at my heartstrings. Sometimes, when kids are learning about gender they when they might say rude things, or feel like they need to correct someone who's gender expression they don't understand, which can be unintentionally really harmful, so gently teaching kids about gender freedom (which is such a good phrase too) in turn teaches them about respect, that they shouldn't put someone in a box, especially not before hearing what they have to say. This is a lesson that some days, I, as a trans person am still learning, so teaching kids this young means so much.

I gave this five stars and I think this is a hopeful, lyrical book and I hope it finds a lot of love and home in classroom libraries when it comes out.