Rainbow Boy

by Taylor Rouanzion, Stacey Chomiak (Illustrator)

Overview

A story about a boy with a heart too big for one color alone.

A little boy attempts to answer one of grown-ups' all-time favorite questions: "What's your favorite color?" But with so many wonderful colors to choose from, he doesn't know how to answer. He loves his pink sparkly tutu, bright red roses, soft yellow baby doll pajamas, and big, orange basketball. How will he ever pick?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506463988
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	417,994
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Taylor Rouanzion lives in Florida with her daughter and miniature dachshund. She has been a part of local support groups for trans/gender-nonconforming kids and their parents. Her own child is gender-nonconforming and has inspired Taylor to write for her and others like her so they can be seen in children's literature. Taylor earned her master's degree in library and information science and works as an elementary school librarian for the best kids on the planet!

Stacey Chomiak is an artist, author, and LGBTQ speaker. She works in the animation industry, and also illustrates and writes children's books that represent the queer community. She is the author and illustrator of the YA memoir Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story and the illustrator of Rainbow Boy and Rainbow Boy and the Pride Parade by Taylor Rouanzion. She lives on the West Coast of Canada and loves to have conversations around faith and sexuality.

Editorial Reviews

11/30/2020

Inspired by Rouanzion’s gender nonconforming child, this picture book interrogates the habit of assigning colors and activities to a specific gender. When adults ask the unnamed protagonist, who has variegated brown hair and tan skin, the “ ‘favorite color’ question,” the child offers a different hue for each day of the week, corresponding to favorite pastimes: on Sundays, pink is their favorite color, as they enjoy “play ballerina,” while Tuesdays are for orange and basketball. But when grown-ups persist in asking for a single favorite color, the protagonist turns to their mother for affirmation: “Your heart is just too big for one color alone. You need a whole rainbow to fill it up.” Dynamic digital illustrations by Chomiak highlight the child’s energy and imagination. While the ending feels slightly abrupt, the narrative clearly encourages readers to avoid projecting limiting binary social norms. Ages 3–5. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Ever-empowering...the bright, colorful images will pull your little one in from the very first page." —PopSugar

"Dynamic digital illustrations by Chomiak highlight the child's energy and imagination. While the ending feels slightly abrupt, the narrative clearly encourages readers to avoid projecting limiting binary social norms." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher