Just How Radical Is Radical: Children’s Picture Books and Trans Youth

Abstract

This paper analyses the Australian children’s picture books The Gender Fairy, by Jo Hirst and Libby Wirt, and Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship, by Jess Walton and Dougal MacPherson. Both are examples of a rare engagement by Australian children’s authors and illustrators; indeed, Hirst has the distinction of being the first Australian author of a picture book with a trans protagonist. The authors and illustrators engage with trans issues within a socio-political context that continues to problematise gender identity, particularly when it pertains to young children. To circumvent at least some of the controversy their efforts might generate, the authors and illustrators balance the radical potential of their subject matter with the perceived needs of the marketplace and the constraints imposed by the genre. In doing so, they create books that are radical, but not so radical that they generate controversy that obscures their message.