ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines children’s picture books that depict transgender-identified characters before analyzing picture books that depict male-assigned children who express the desire to live as girls, including Pearl’s Christmas Present, 10,000 Dresses, Be Who You Are, and I Am Jazz. The former depict children punished, whereas the latter depict trans girls affirmed. Each confirm that children should have the right to gender independence, but there are limitations. The former may imply that conforming to gendered expectations may enable a more pleasant life, whereas the latter have a tendency to rely on biological essentialism to explain and justify trans identifications.
