Author: Brook Pessin-Whedbee
(recommended age: 3+)
Who are You? is a colorfully illustrated picture book that is sure to attract- and confuse- its targeted preschool through 2nd grade audience. From the very first page, the author conveys to the young child that “This is a story about you.”
Throughout her book, the author paints a picture of the beauty of gender diversity. “… gender is so much more than the body you were born with.” She draws her audience in with pictures of children playing and climbing trees, all wearing colorful clothes. Fairy wings, hearts, flowers, and tutus are among the children’s choices of clothing. “Kids know a lot about themselves. They know who they are by how they feel inside.”
Who are You? is a celebration of fluid gender roles. The author encourages children to question their parents’ knowledge, stating, “For some people, the grown-ups guessed right about their body and their gender. (That sounds like a 50-50 chance, at best.) Children ages 3 – 7 are introduced to the concept of gender spectrum. They are taught eleven words, each describing various choices of sexual orientation. Parents are left to wonder which part of the curriculum has been forsaken in order to fit in this unnecessary content.
The author of Who are You? follows up this confusion with a “Guide for Grown-ups” at the back of the book. This section suggests follow-up discussion topics for each page. The questions are carefully designed not only to discourage children from “assuming” another person’s sex or gender, but also begin thinking about the fluidity of their own. “Being respectful,” says the author, “means believing people when they say who they are and calling them what they prefer to be called.” Examples include “she/her/hers, he/him/his, ze/hir/hirs, and more.”
The culminating activity of Who are You? is the Gender Wheel- a colorfully appealing manipulative tool designed to “capture the complex and layered nature and endless possibilities of gender.” The child spins this wheel to see how various factors of a person’s “Body, Identity, and Expression” come together to make a person who they are. “Just as toys are just toys and clothes are just clothes…bodies are just bodies!”
In contrast to our Christian faith, this book teaches preschool through 2nd grade children to:
question traditional gender roles (which will undoubtedly lead to a breakdown of the traditional family)
question the body God has given them (made in His own image!)
question their own sex and gender
question absolute Truth as found in Scripture
focus on the role of sexual identity at too young an age
Children are exposed to enough toxicity in a culture that has turned its back on Jesus. Placing them in group settings puts pressure on them to agree with peers and trusted supervising adults; what powerful persuasion to join the crowd.