Michael hall author red snapper

Boston Globe. Publishers Weekly. Huffington Post. Booklist starred review. Shelf Awareness. USA Today. Elizabeth Bird. I like it when pictures teeter back and forth between two or more meanings. For an introvert like me, school visits can be exhausting. As I prepared to promote my first book, My Heart Is Like a Zoo , I was surprised to discover that school sessions were usually about fifty minutes long.

It only took five minutes to read my book, so what would I do with the other 45 minutes? While promoting Red , for example, I led the students through a crayon-making exercise. In one point, I projected an illustration of a bowl of wax cubes. I asked the group to rub their hands together to create heat, and as they did, the wax magically melted.

They so often surprise me with their perceptive comments. My second crayon book, Frankencrayon , was criticized for being too complicated for children. All Red's friends try to "help" him. Masking Tape tapes him. Scissors cuts his label a tiny bit. Pencil Sharpener sharpens him. However, obviously none of these actions change the blue crayon to a red one.

Red works and works and works and fights and fights and fights being blue. Much as our society and our religions encourage transgender people to "fight their sin" and "fight their nature" and "work hard to correct yourself" and "fit in. One day, he met a new friend. I'm red. It's perfect! It was easy! Suddenly, Red can't stop drawing! He gleefully draws bluebells, blue jeans, blue birds, bluberries, and even a giant blue whale.

Somebody's finally seen through all the labels and the bullshit and has freed Red from the prison he's been in. He was red blue. And everyone was talking. A really big one. All these people are accepting and celebratory upon hearing the news that Red is blue inside. They don't disown him, hate him, judge him, beat him, spit on him, murder him, rape him, or drive him to suicide.

However, I'm sure we can all agree that that would be a pretty depressing children's book. Perhaps the author is trying to create a world in which people don't have such a violent, angry, and terrified view of transgendered individuals as they do today. We can only hope. I've seen great strides just in the last 10 years, so there is a possibility things will be as idealistic as this book makes out one day.

NOTE: Children aren't going to know this is about transgender people. I've seen this book make adults weep openly, but children aren't going to get that. Instead, the child will be delighted when - imbued with a God-like power - he or she can see straight into the true core of the individual: he's a blue crayon in a red label. I notice that the book doesn't try to "re-label" Red.

He starts off as blue in a red label, he ends as blue in a in a red label - just one who is self-aware and happy, now. There's no move to strip him of his red label and put a blue one on him. This is important, I think. If Red later chooses to wear a blue label instead of a red one, that will be his choice. I think it's important to read this book to children, but you might want to gauge how much you strip away the thin veneer of color and explicitly make it about transgendered people.

It's up to you, it is your choice, based on your child and what you think your child can handle. I'm also unclear as to where religion falls in this. Is the book saying that "God" the factory make a mistake in labeling Red? Or is Red extra-special, unique and brilliant for being someone who has a red label but a blue "soul? None of this soul-destroying 'love the person, hate the 'sin'' trash 'sin' is in quotes because even thinking that word in regards to transgender people makes my blood boil that is so common now.

I think it's clear in the book that Red's family and friends love him and care about him, and when it becomes obvious to them that Red is blue, they rejoice in his specialness and his unique gifts. They love Red, they want him to be happy, they cheer and rejoice when their friend is free and happily expressing his true self. That is love.

That is the true nature of Christianity IMO. Why are we talking about religion and Christianity, Carmen? I know. I'm sorry, but I can't help but think when I think about the transgender people I know that religion is A1 when it comes to excusing hatred, violence and terror as a reaction to someone who is not meeting gender norms. I think it's super-important to realize that Christianity should be, at its core, about love, acceptance and community.

Michael hall author red snapper

Are you even Christian? No comment. Are you even atheist? Do you even math, bro? I'm talking about the fact that although the majority of people believe that being Christian involves being a judgmental asshole, it doesn't have to be that way. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. Tl;dr - Children aren't going to "get this. In a way, this book is more for adults than for children.

However, I think it's a good and important book. In that case, please spell it out for them. Even without the knowledge of what 'transgender' is, children will delight in their ability to clearly see what all the foolish and misguided crayons can't see - the obvious fact that Red is a blue crayon. You can talk about how clothes don't make the man, how it's important not to judge people on their appearances.

You could use it to illustrate gender roles or to express the importance of celebrating a person's true gifts even if that gift doesn't "fit" with a person's physical appearance - think of Binky Barnes being an accomplished ballet dancer on Arthur. There's so much to talk about here without talking about being transgender, but this book IS without a doubt about transgender people.

Why do crayons even NEED labels at all? Do they? What purpose do labels serve? What if all the crayons just ripped off their labels and ran around naked? Would that be a good idea or a bad idea? This is a rare book that clearly has a message but isn't preachy. You can completely ignore all issues and just read it as a straight-up children's book that's simply about crayons if you want.

No one's going to force you to talk to your kid about gender identity if you don't want to. I've read this to many Catholic schoolkids without a peep about transgender issues. It's a good book with a good message no matter what, you need to decide based on your audience whether to broach the transgender discussion or not. Read it, enjoy it, and take from it whatever you want.

However, there is no upper age limit if you are using this as a tool to teach someone about gender identity. It can work wonderfully to illustrate this concept even to adults. Author 12 books 3, followers. Peter Rabbit takes an illicit nosh and loses his fancy duds. Pinocchio stretches the truth a little and ends up with a prominent proboscis.

It takes skill and a gentle hand. When Sophie Gets Angry. Really Really Angry works because the point of the book is couched in beautiful, lively, eye-popping art, and a story that shows rather than tells. It took closer to an hour to walk to the Michigan football stadium where I spent many beautiful Saturday afternoons with my friends. I was thinking of my hometown when I decided to write a book about autumn called Wonderfall.

If you squint, Michigan can look like a hand. Michiganders tend to point to their hands when describing where they live. I wanted to be writer of some sort from an early age and loved creative writing assignments in school. It turns out that very few people speed read an organic chemistry textbook. Later, I worked in a number of academic and commercial laboratories and found myself putting off my plan to go to graduate school.