Written by: Robb Pearlman

Illustrated by: Eda Kaban

For Ages: 4-7 years

Language: English

Topics Covered: Gender stereotypes, Acceptance, Self-Expression, Individuality.

Summary: This is a simple book that explains how all the colors are for everyone, and gives plenty of examples!  These fun illustrations highlight the color of topic by giving more examples.  For example: Orange is for girls. And boys. And popsicles dribbling down sticky chins. The illustrations are fairly diverse and show many body types as well as ability levels.  A fun and quick read for young children, this would be a great book to begin a conversation within a classroom about gender stereotypes.

I love this book for many reasons.  I understand that it reinforces the gender binary, but this language can be fixed in places by changing a few pronouns to make them neutral.  The fact of the matter is that little boys are still teased for wearing pink, and need books like this.  Gender is a spectrum, but there are individuals that fall within it that need representation too.  The emphasis is on the idea that all colors are for everyone, not that everyone needs to be a boy or a girl.  The importance of this book’s lesson outweighs the binary-reinforcing language in my opinion, particularly because the language can be so easily fixed.

About the Author & the Illustrator:

Robb Pearlman is an author and associate publisher of pop culture and entertainment books including Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting, The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book, Anomalisa, Zombies on Film: The Definitive Story of Undead Cinema, Stuck on Star Trek, and The Princess Bride: A Celebration and a calendar program that includes major licenses as Star Trek, Game of Thrones, American Gods, Downton Abbey, Bob’s Burgers, and Family Guy. He has edited monographs of the work and lives of award winning animators Bill Plympton and Ralph Bakshi, the movie tie-in books to Burlesque and Amelia, The Joker, the first book solely devoted to the DC Comics super-villain, as well as children’s books including Grandma Moses’s The Night Before Christmas, John Patrick Byrne’s Donald and Benoit, and A Poem as Big as New York City, illustrated by Masha D’yans. Robb has had successful events and signings at San Diego and New York ComicCons, bookstores and comic book retailers in Los Angeles, New York, and New Jersey. He was featured as an on air commentator in National Geographic Channel’s “Generation X” series, contributed to HuffingtonPost.com, performed at the Nerdnite Nerdtacular, and has been featured on several pop culture blogs and SiriusXM radio shows. Robb serves on the Advisory Board of the MS in Publishing Program at Pace University and on the Board of Directors of Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

Eda Kaban was born and raised in Turkey with a great passion for drawing, reading, and monkey bars. She has traveled the globe wearing a backpack slightly larger than herself. Her travels brought her to the States where she studied illustration. Her work can be seen in a variety of publications. She has worked with clients such as Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, HarperCollins, Chronicle Books, Macmillan, Perseus, Lufthansa Airlines, Mattel, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and The Village Voice among others. Her illustrations have been recognized by Society of Illustrators, Creative Quarterly, American Illustration and 3X3. She is represented by Shannon Associates and she continues to search for stories through love, laughter, and observations of the people around her. When she is not drawing, you can find her climbing some rocks, or biking the hills of the Bay Area. She currently resides in Oakland happily with her husband and their two Siamese cats, where they continually water their plants too much.