That's Inappropriate!

I just shared a brand new book with a class of 5-6 year olds, Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle, by Pija Lindenbaum. Mini Mia loves hanging out with her Uncle Tommy; they go to the opera, they romp around and play dead, they go people watching, or they go out and jump on both feet everywhere they go. She is not at all pleased when his new friend Fergus arrives on the scene. Her jealousy, and her eventual acceptance, are hilariously conveyed by her expressive face: snarling, suspicious, resentful and just wildly jealous. The students laughed loudly at her antics, undoubtedly identifying with their own moments of jealousy.

The book, translated from Swedish, has garnered wide acclaim. As School Library Journal notes, "Picture books where the fact that someone is gay is incidental to the action are few and far between." I am thankful to have such an offering; it's similar to my quest for children's books featuring people of color where race is not the subject. Mini Mia is a delight to share and thankfully hasn't hit the banned books list -- at least yet.

I turned one particular page and the children guffawed even more loudly. One shouted "That's inappropriate!" and several others echoed the remark. So what's inappropriate? Certainly not sharing a book with gay or lesbian characters -- I make a point of doing that throughout the grades. Mini and her uncle go to the swimming pool and there is an illustration of Mini demurely changing into her swimsuit in the women's locker room. Just off the edge of the page is an image of part of a woman's bare behind. Since it's kind of what one might expect to see in a locker room, I wouldn't call it inappropriate. But, as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said regarding pornography, "I know it when I see it." And five and six year olds know inappropriate when they see it.