Book Descriptions
for When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff and Kaylani Juanita
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Following the news that he’s going to become a big brother, Aidan helps his parents choose baby clothing, paint the nursery, and consider names. Aidan doesn’t like when people ask if his mom is having a boy or a girl because when Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. As Aidan got bigger, he knew he wasn’t. “It was hard to tell his parents … but it was harder not to.” When he’s worried about being a good big brother, his mom reminds him that they didn’t know everything when Aidan was born, but he helped them learn. “You taught us how important it is to love someone for exactly who they are.” Aidan is mixed race (his mom looks Black, his dad Asian) in art full of playfulness (the clothing patterns!) and abundant warmth. Buoyant illustrations show Aidan’s clothing choices range from dinosaur t-shirts to bowties, baseball hat to head wrap, shorts to frilly pinafore, in a story beautifully affirming gender identity as a matter of internal understanding and self-knowledge rather than an assignment based on physical appearance, and gender expression as open and expansive rather than culturally proscribed. (Ages 4–8)
CCBC Choices 2020. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2020. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. But once he came out as a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of his life that didn't fit anymore, and he settled happily into being himself. Then Mom and Dad announce that they're having another baby, and Aidan wants to get everything right for his new sibling. But what does it mean to "get everything right"? And what happens if he messes up? With a little help, Aidan discovers that he already knows the most important thing about being a brother: how to love with his whole heart. When Aidan Became a Brother is a heartfelt story that will resonate with transgender children and reassure any child concerned about becoming an older sibling as it celebrates the many transitions a family can experience. --
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.