Pink is for Boys
Author: Rob Pearlman
Illustrator: Eda Kaban
I have no idea why this book is the success that it is.
This book is a hit. The only reason I can think of why it’s a hit, is that it had a wonderful marketing strategy and some really nice illustrations. There is no there, there.
Quick Rating: Do Not Buy
Summary
The book states that every color is for boys and girls. That’s it.
Illustrations
Kaban’s illustrations are beautiful. They are elegant, happy and simply lovely. They do their best to accent the absolute lack of anything that is happening in the prose.
No Space on My Bookshelf
No. Just no. The premise of the idea: that every color is suitable for every person, is wonderful! Yes! This is exactly what we want to be teaching from the earliest age possible. Colors are, in fact, genderless. However (and I mean however in the strongest possible form of BUT), one actually has to carry through on a plan.
The book merely recites over and over that color X (or y or z) is suitable for one gender and the other (assuming of course that there are only two genders). It gives limited, brief, examples (in the illustrations) of how boys and girls can “wear” the color in different (and the same) situations.
Repeating the statement over and over, however, does little to reach a child. It’s certainly not the way to undo years of societal programming. For starters, the book does nothing to address why colors are genderless other than repeat the mantra over and over again. And, it provides no added value for the lesson it is trying to teach.
Now, maybe I’m asking too much of a children’s book. But, the book is not free. Finding no compelling story and its lack of value as a resource, I cannot justify its purchase. And that’s, why there is no room on my bookshelf. [End.]
Please, leave comments! I love a HEALTHY exchange of ideas. After all, critical thinking is essential to life.
If you’d like to preview the book, here’s read aloud:
More books for this Age Group can be found here.
More LGBTQ+ themed books can be found here.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.