Pride Puppy!

Starred review from May 3, 2021
This rhyming abecedarian follows a family of four—one light brown–skinned, tattooed parent with an undercut, another parent with darker brown skin and purple curls, and two children: one with lavender hair, and a curly-haired baby—who attend a Pride parade with their pup in tow. When the dog gets loose, parade-goers pitch in to recover the rambunctious canine. Stevenson’s bouncy rhymes detail the Pride celebrations while neatly propelling the story forward: “M for missing! We search high and low./ N for nearly... and next time... and NO!” McLaughlin contributes vibrant, rainbow-splashed illustrations, done in graphite and finished digitally, which show
attendees of varying abilities, skin tones, genders, partner pairings, and more. This engaging introduction to Pride
parades for the youngest readers successfully testifies to the warmth and power of queer community. Back matter features a search-and-find word list. Ages 3–5.

Starred review from May 1, 2021
LGBTQIA + ABC + dog = fun! This queer-centric alphabet book follows a young light-brown-skinned protagonist of ambiguous gender, their moms (an interracial couple), baby sibling, and rambunctious dog as they get ready to head off to a Pride parade. Disaster looms, however, when a tumble leads to a loose dog and a chase through the parade to reunite the four-legged member of the family with its bipedal owners. Each page introduces the next letter of the alphabet, advancing the story and along the way offering a plethora of vocabulary words (sometimes in print, sometimes in illustrations--a concluding search-and-find word list will send readers back through the book). While the story is sweet, the illustrations are the real stars of the show, depicting realistic characters and a crowd that is diverse in age, skin tone, racial presentation, size and shape, ability, and body modification. The cartoon illustrations are highly detailed, which may make the book challenging for large-group storytimes, but it will keep lap-readers invested as they pore over the characters, designs, and background actions. The only thing missing is a flag identification guide to help caregivers identify the variety of identities found and supported within the book. That quibble aside, the book is sheer delight and will be a welcome addition to shelves everywhere. Highly--and proudly--recommended. (Picture book. 4-6)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.