Published: 5th May 2014
Publisher: Magination Press
Illustrator: Kristyna Litten
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
This day in June…. Parade starts soon…. Rainbow arches…. Joyful marches!
In a wildly whimsical, validating, and exuberant reflection of the LGBT community, This Day In June welcomes readers to experience a pride celebration and share in a day when we are all united.
Also included is a Note to Parents and Other Caregivers with information on how to talk to children about sexual orientation and gender identity in age-appropriate ways as well as a Reading Guide chock-full of facts about LGBT history and culture. This Day in June is an excellent tool for teaching respect, acceptance, and understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
This story comes from the American Psychological Association and is a great resource to teach children (and adults) about the history and culture of LGBTQIA people all centred on the parade. It does have an American focus, but there are elements that are universal as well, especially as the movements in the States had reverberating effects around the world.
There is not as much story as I was thinking there would be, but it still reads like a nice poem. There is a great amount of history expressed though you don’t realise it at the time. I enjoyed the premise more than I’d give credit to an interesting narrative. The poem style story doesn’t explain much, a lot needs to be understood from the information at the back of the book.
The lines of the poem themselves are vague and simple enough, but reading about what they are references offers a greater insight into the pride activities, participants, and history. The reading guide at the end breaks down the lines with the historical connotations such as the parade being in June, or the “sisters painting” relating to The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
What I loved was Litten doesn’t shy away from the illustrations because these are pictures of the pride parade and there are people dressed in all manner of clothing, including the leather shorts and the “Dykes on Bikes” seen at countless pride parades. There are families, same-sex couples, and a range of costume and floats to depict all the various things usually seen at Pride.
This is a simple book but is one that could be a great resource and introduction/celebration of Pride, especially since these issues are relevant every month of the year.
You can purchase This Day In June via the following
June is here! Honestly who would have thought it would ever come with the rate at which some of these months were passing (looking at you March). The start of June brings on winter, brings on the cold days and crisp mornings, and it also means it’s the start of Pride Month. I was super not on the ball last year so I am going to try harder this time around to get some of the great LGBTQIA content I have read out.
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