A Note From Ms. Kate (The Lavender Librarian)
CALVIN is a beautiful picture book that hits a lot of the Storytime Solidarity’s favourite topics. The book is gender-affirming, shows familial love, and celebrates Black joy. That’s not meant to pigeon hole. It’s a beautiful book to share with any little one, whether as a window into a life little understood, or as a mirror for those who don’t often see their lives reflected in children’s literature.
I loved it immediately and was thrilled when the Fords agreed to speak to us about their book. Still, when Vanessa sent me the answers we were moved by their thoughtful and beautiful answers. We are so thrilled to share this affirming story to help celebrate Pride 2022!
What inspired you to write CALVIN?
JR and I are the lucky parents of an amazing, transgender child. In 2015, when our child Ellie (they/them) first told us who they were, we looked for resources that were aimed at young children. They were 4 years old at the time. We found I AM JAZZ and our child had us read it over and over. We continued to look for books that represented our family and experience but didn’t see any. In 2018, we decided that we would use our journey with our child as inspiration and began writing CALVIN. At that time there were no children’s books with transgender boys– or transgender children of color. (Now there are some great ones that CALVIN has joined including WHEN AIDEN BECAME A BROTHER and BORN READY.) We also wanted to write a book that showed 100% affirmation throughout and didn’t speak to bullying or having the child have to convince others. With that in mind we sat down together and drafted out the story that become CALVIN!
Editor’s note: Another Great Book is MY SISTER DAISY
My Sister, Daisy
It is very often that I have questions from parents and caregivers asking for resources for their transgender child or family member. Many times it is because they are trying to understand the child better. What advice would you give a parent?
Early on a therapist told us, “People are who they say they are until they tell you otherwise.” This has stuck with me for the past 7 years and has been my guiding principle in understanding my child. Ultimately, people know themselves best and it is our job to find ways to support them. To parents new to this journey, know that you are not alone — and neither is your child. There are thousands of us out there on this journey and it can be a beautiful, fulfilling and joyful one!
Some books written with transgender characters start the reader off with knowing their “dead” name. What encouraged you to make the decision to not divulge that information about Calvin?
To be honest, since we know how problematic it is to use a transgender person’s name before they transitioned, it never occurred to us to tell Calvin’s birth name. (And we never thought about what it was either!) Choosing a new name can be such a celebration and we wanted to solely focus on that aspect.
Calvin’s lion stuffed animal is found on every page until he goes to school. Is there a meaning behind the lion?
When our child chose their name, they named themselves after their lovey, Ellie. We wanted to bring that aspect into story but used a lion because it was the favorite animal of a transgender boy we interviewed! We interviewed many transgender children and their families when writing this book. We wanted those children to see themselves in the book outside of the story. There are hidden nods to these kids throughout the book (the color purple, the cat, the lion, comic books…). The lion, in fact, is on every page of the book — even when Calvin goes to school! Check out the logo on Calvin’s shirt 😉
The diversity and inclusiveness of the people in your book is beautiful. Did you work closely with your illustrator?
Kayla Harren is a phenomenally talented illustrator. We did have some notes in our manuscript but allowed her to imagine the beautiful diversity of student experience in schools. She captured this so well. In each scene with many people (the comic book convention or the classroom for example), you see different body shapes, different religions, and different abilities — it’s beautiful! She really brought that to life.
I love that you wrote this book with your husband! It has to be such a special bonding experience to create such a wonderful book with someone you love. Can you tell us how you worked together and made decisions?
It was a journey! We would talk about what we thought the story should be, I’d often do the bulk of the writing, then he would do the bulk of the editing/revisions. We’d read it aloud to each other and flag places that needed to be fixed or changed and would use a GoogleDoc along the way to leave comments and track changes. It was a true collaboration, and one that was super fun to do with someone you love!
On the Random House website they say about CALVIN that “all should feel safe, respected, and welcomed”. I felt that reading this book. Also, Kirkus reviews describes your book as “A valuable model of intentional, compassionate response to gender expansive kids and their needs”. Has the overall response been as positive and affirming as we hope?
The response to CALVIN has truly been wonderful. Inevitably, there are those who want to ban this story from being used in classrooms and libraries. But the vast majority of feedback has been positive. The best part is when we hear from someone about the impact the story has had on them — that they see themselves in CALVIN. We heard from a trans adult who used the book to come out to his family. One parent told us their trans son slept with the book the first week it was in the house. We have had teachers read it with their classes and have had cis- students tell us it has taught them to respect and appreciate trans people. We meet with schools or libraries about once a week now from all over the country who are working to integrate CALVIN, and stories like CALVIN into their work to ensure that all kids feel welcome and seen. With all of the efforts made to ban books like CALVIN, it’s amazing to see educators, families and librarians really working to make sure he finds a place in their schools, homes and libraries.
Is there anything else you would like to share about this beautiful book you created, CALVIN?
CALVIN is just one story. Many more are needed! The experiences of trans youth are vast, and we need more stories that portray their experiences. I also want to point out the dedication. Our dedication is quite long, as CALVIN is truly a love letter to teachers. CALVIN is dedicated to each of the teachers Ellie had since they transitioned who, like the teachers in the book, made their experience a positive and affirming one.
Can we look forward to more books in the future?
Stay tuned! We do have a draft of another book– and a few more ideas– but nothing is solidified yet!
Of course, as a librarian, I need to ask this question. What books do you recommend and what were your favorite books growing up? What other books do you feel get trans representation right?
My favorite book growing up was LIO THE LATE BLOOMER. It was the story of a tiger who learned to do things a bit after his classmates but eventually figured it all out in his own time.
In terms of books that represent the trans youth experience, we have a few favorites:
BORN READY: THE TRUE STORY OF A BOY NAMED PENELOPE by Jodie Patterson
MY RAINBOW by Trinity and DeShaunna Neal
MY SISTER DAISY by Adria Karlsson
WHEN AIDEN BECAME A BROTHER by Kyle Lukoff
