Book Review- My Shadow is Purple
Written and Illustrated by Scott Stuart
Book on gender identities.
The protagonist here identifies as non-binary. The mom is a bright pink and the dad is a berry blue- both as strong as can be. But the protagonist identifies as a purple- likes both ballet and football, trains and glitter and doesn’t want to choose only one.
The school dance is the perfect opportunity to really express oneself but it leads to disillusionment coz everyone is asked to choose between being pink and blue. You have to conform or be left out. Our protagonist chooses to walk out rather than conform and in the process, they learn that there are more colours- some yellow, some brown and so on.
It’s all a happy ending, but I felt maybe the whole colour shadow thing was lost on the child. We don’t talk gender at home. We are a gender neutral household and pink for girls and blue for boys is something we haven’t discussed explicitly- though I’m sure some has been imbibed from external settings.
Instead of this being about gender identities, it became more a conversation about individuality- which according to me was a good enough start.
Great for introducing to young children the concept of gender identities, non-binary identities, breaking gender norms and choosing your own individuality.
Superb illustrations. The depiction of the tough dad in touch with his tender side, the delicate mom with a tough side to her was endearing. The dance outfit was stunning.
What we didn’t like- why should you choose one or the other? And choosing both makes one non-binary? That was some grey area in the narration!
Ideal for kids aged 4+yrs
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