GayBCs,The

Product Information

My 14-year-old son lives in a high school context that looks different than my own in the early 1990s. This book came in the mail yesterday (Oct. 7th, 2019) and my daughter and I enjoyed it together. We especially loved "V is for VOGUE" and "S is for Sashay". We loved the colorful illustrations and the smiling, happy children depicted in the pictures. Author and illustrator, M. L. Webb assumes hope, This book makes it fun to learn and understand. It's very sweet but I can see some people not enjoying it (but those people aren't made for this book anyways). A is for ally, as the book says. I think some of the terminology might go over kids heads, but this book is just an introduction so it won't make much of a difference. I have seen comments from other reviewers that some letters had multiple options, but we need to remember this was only going over the alphabet once. There was always a chance that some terms were going to be left out. Hence, they can learn their alphabet letters and also be discussing their sexual attraction through various terms and jingles:

The Gay BCs of LGBT+: An Accompaniment to the ABCs of L…

Young people begin to develop identity-based markers and categories at 2 years old, so it’s never too early to introduce identity or diversity to young people, particularly in the structure of picture books,” she said. “The one thing that I like about this book — picture and alphabet books — is their common structure for young people. Fitting information within that common familiar structure can help introduce a new topic in a familiar way.” A playdate extravaganza transforms into a joyful celebration of friendship, love, and identity as four young friends sashay out of all the closets, dress up in a wardrobe fit for kings and queens, and discover the wonders of their imagination. In The GayBCs, M. L. Webb's playful illustrations and lively poems delight in the beauty of embracing one's truest self--from A is for Aro and Ace to F is for Family to T is for Trans. Webb’s book also shares (part of) a title and theme with GAYBCs: A Queer Alphabet , by Rae Congdon (Greystone Books, 2018). Positioned by the publisher as a “cheeky, progressive adult alphabet book,” words like “kink” make this one best for older readers. Make sure you’re buying the one you want, if you want either! I is for Intersex. “Some are born with the parts of both a boy and a girl; bodies are works of art!”

This is lovely! It’s not like a literal dictionary — you’ll def need an adult to spell out what exactly many of these things mean (for example “A is for Aro and Ace. Words we use to say that love and attraction may be felt in many ways” is great, but, depending on the kid, may result in some follow up questions about exactly what that means). There is a glossary at the end, which helps somewhat, but it doesn't define 100% of the terms, and some of them are just repeated from earlier in the book. But the illustrations are really cute, it covers a lot of ground, and has a great vibe. I would say it’s more focused on gay male/drag cultural touchstones (with words included for Kiki, vogue, sashay, etc.), but I do think it covers a good range of LGBTQIA+ related terms. A playdate extravaganza transforms into a joyful celebration of friendship, love, and identity as four young friends sashay out of all the closets, dress up in a wardrobe fit for kings and queens, and discover the wonders of their imagination. In The GayBCs, M. L. Webb’s playful illustrations and lively poems delight in the beauty of embracing one’s truest self—from A is for Aro and Ace to F is for Family to T is for Trans. Overall, I think this is a great tool and is very fun. It's full of colours and fun pictures as well!

toddler, a book for learning your ‘Gay B Cs’ And for the toddler, a book for learning your ‘Gay B Cs’

We have two ideas that pop into our heads when forming an opinion, the first idea is what we are conditioned to think, the second idea is what determines who we are as people.” Although I am all for equality, it is disturbing that the public school system is indoctrinating these alternative lifestyle choices into young minds….at such a young age. I also question the verse for “trans,” although I say this as a cisgender person and hope some trans folks will weigh in. “T is for Trans,” Webb writes. “It’s a brave step to take/to live as the gender you know is innate.” The definition of a trans person, however, isn’t “someone who lives as the gender they know is innate”—cisgender people do that, too. The verse therefore doesn’t really convey what it means to be trans. With a little adult explanation, the verse can be read as a positive comment on many trans people’s lives, but it doesn’t quite get there on its own. Additionally, as I’ve heard from some trans people (and in a related way, from people with disabilities), they’re tired of being told they’re “brave” simply for existing. I’ve also heard from some that they do think they’ve been brave—but as this is a point of contention, it would have been better avoided here.the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics” I know it is called an adult picture book but this is a book that you can read with a young child right up to a teenager. The terms and explanation are easy to understand and the illustrations are perfect and quite cleverly done (I loved how they used the original illustration and altered it for the new term - my favourite were the ladybugs). I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what was happening, and I remember being very scared and vulnerable,” he said. “I couldn’t tell anybody and ask, ‘What’s this mean?’“

The GayBCs - Kindle edition by Webb, M. L.. Children Kindle

Hearthside Books in Juneau is promoting books for the holiday season, and its catalog features a book for the grand-babies: “Gay BCs”. I think this is a great way to introduce terminology to children. It's simple, uses great pictures and makes it easy. I can honestly think of some adults who could use this book...The idea of the book is very appealing. As a teacher and a queer person, I think it's important that books like these exist and that kids in their early years learn about diversity and normalize it. However, I agree with previous reviewers, it's a shame that the A wasn't for asexual. Allies are important, but it's more important to give visibility to a collective that is, more often than not, ignored. Also problematic is the verse for “Intersex,” which tells us, “Some are born with the parts of both a boy and a girl; bodies are works of art.” That’s a misleading view of the range of what it means to be intersex. As the Intersex Society of North America tells us, “Intersex is a socially constructed category that reflects real biological variation,” and notes that people who are intersex exhibit a range of physical characteristics. Sometimes, an intersex condition may be chromosomal or hormonal with no visible physical manifestation. Webb’s definition unfortunately perpetuates the myth that all intersex people are hermaphrodites.