Nick Rolfe

I Am Fred: The Girl Who Wanted to Be a Boy - Rainbow Street Nick Rolfe

Felicity is not happy. She feels much more like a boy than a girl. But what will happen when she tells people she wants to be Fred?

Part of the Rainbow Street Series, I Am Fred is a story based on real-life discussions between a mother and her son who, inside, increasingly felt more like a girl. The book came out of stories the author told her younger 5-year-old son to try to explain his teenage brother's gradual transition into a girl.

How do you talk about sexual identity to a young child who does not yet know about sex? Is it right and appropriate to discuss sexual topics with young children? That's the point, this book is not about sex it is about self-esteem, self-awareness and self-identity: gender identity. With this understanding comes diversity and acceptance. This book easily finds a home at Your Stories Matter, alongside other diversities including dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism.

The Rainbow Street books are all aimed at 4- to 6-year-old children, using colourful pictures of animals to tell stories of gender identity. They all share the common theme of acceptance and could equally be used at home and in school to discuss all forms of difference and diversity.

By sharing the Rainbow Street Series of books with young children, the aim is to make gender diversity no big deal and no different to accepting and respecting ethnic diversity, religious diversity and forms of neurodiversity. Stories in the series cover topics ranging from gender identity and adoption by same-sex parents, through to single fatherhood and it being ok to live alone in old age.

As with all of its books, the publisher - Your Stories Matter - aims to help people know they are not alone with what makes them different. If a young person or adult can relate to a story, it gives them hope and encourages them to share their concerns. The publisher aims to provide free teaching resources for all of its books that can be used in schools, to help improve understanding and celebrate differences.