{"id":546,"date":"2014-10-24T19:59:41","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T02:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mayagonzalez.com\/blog\/?p=546"},"modified":"2022-06-20T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T03:42:12","slug":"gender-free-multicultural-childrens-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mayagonzalez.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/gender-free-multicultural-childrens-book\/","title":{"rendered":"gender free multicultural children’s book!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"call-me-tree-gender-free\"<\/p>\n

\"call-me-tree-cover-200\"You may or may not notice something different about my new book, Call Me Tree<\/em><\/a>. Nowhere in the story are boy\/girl or pronouns used. No \u2018he\u2019 or \u2018she\u2019 anywhere! I found it easy to write this way because that\u2019s how I think of kids, as kids, not boy kids or girl kids.<\/p>\n

I even requested that no \u2018he\u2019 or \u2018she\u2019 be used anywhere else in the book, like on the end pages or the back cover when talking about the story. I also asked the publisher to only refer to the main character as a child or kid when they talked about my book out in the world. Because I wanted Call Me Tree<\/em> to be gender free!<\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong> I\u2019m glad you asked<\/p>\n

Two reasons come to the top of my mind.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, I know a lot of people. Some don\u2019t feel that they fit into the boy or the girl box and of course, some do! By not using \u2018he\u2019 or \u2018she,\u2019 I could include everyone! This is very important to me. I want everyone to know that we all belong!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And second<\/strong>, I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about the main character in Call Me Tree<\/em>. Let\u2019s call them \u2018Tree<\/em>.\u2019 Tree<\/em> is like a lot of people I know, including my own kids! Strong, curious, free! Now, if you were going to guess if Tree<\/em> is \u2018he\u2019 or \u2018she,\u2019 which do you think?\"call-me-tree-maya-gonzalez\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to guess you\u2019d say \u2018he\u2019 first, maybe because Tree<\/em>\u2019s already been called \u2018he\u2019 by folks who have given Call Me Tree<\/em> some really awesome reviews. Tree<\/em> could be he, but maybe not! A lot of times we make guesses based on what we think is true, but sometimes that can leave people out.<\/p>\n

Tree\u2019s <\/em>reminding us there are lots of different ways to be! <\/strong><\/p>\n

I just remembered another top reason.<\/p>\n

People who don\u2019t fit into the boy or the girl box get teased more than anybody. This is extra not cool to me. I happen to know all kids rock<\/strong>, so I want to make sure the ones that get picked on the most know they rock! Right?!<\/p>\n

So Call Me Tree<\/em><\/a> is gender free! Because all trees belong!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Try it on for a day. Play with not being called \u2018he\u2019 or \u2018she,\u2019 but only Tree<\/em>, tall and strong! Just for one day, or even one afternoon. Would anything feel different? Would you be different?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s call it Tree Day.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s all be free. Let\u2019s all be trees!
\nWhatdya think?<\/p>\n

Call me Tree!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love,\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 mayatree<\/p>\n

\"Download<\/a>
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