Books like Except When They Don't
By Laura Gehl
For the kid who loves trucks AND tutus, or neither, this book says out loud what many kids feel but rarely hear: you don't have to match the list. Playful, rhythmic, and quietly reassuring — more grin than lecture.
A biracial girl with red hair and brown skin mixes polka dots with stripes and eats peanut butter and jelly burritos, refusing to pick just one side of who she is.
A born builder who once made a tower from diapers and glue faces a teacher who despises architecture — until a class picnic goes wrong and his skills turn out to be exactly what's needed.
An introduction to gender identity for young readers, explaining that some people are boys, some are girls, and some are both, neither, or somewhere in between.
A celebration told through many young voices, each one honoring the beauty of their own brown skin and finding themselves reflected in the natural world around them.
A folk hero grows so fast he bursts through the porch roof, then grows into a legend — swinging two sledgehammers to build roads and racing a steam drill through a mountain.
A Puerto Rican girl grows up surrounded by love and pride in her Taíno and African heritage, but painful treatment from the world slowly dims her sense of her own beauty — until her community rallies to wake her up again.
A child notices that black isn't in the rainbow, then traces the color through everyday things and through the history, culture, and legacy of Black people and community.
A grumpy seed with a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude who cuts in line and stares at everybody decides he's tired of being bad — and wonders if he can change.
A joyful little girl romps through rhyme after rhyme declaring she likes herself completely — messy hair, beaver breath, and all — no matter what anyone thinks.
A young Hawaiian girl named Ano explores her island home through canoes, hawks, and forest lizards, then learns hula — the storytelling dance that carries her people's history — and discovers what aloha truly means.
A parent looks at a child and wonders aloud, in rhyme, about all the different people they might grow up to be — brave, clever, silly, wise — no matter what.
A New York City boy dreads his family's move out West, convinced he'll have to ride a horse to school, dodge buffaloes, and avoid cactus everywhere he sits.
