"I have a girl brain but a boy body, this is called transgender. I was born this way!"
"Pretending I was a boy felt like telling a lie."
GRADE LEVEL: PRE-K-3
AUTHOR: Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
ILLUSTRATOR: Shelagh McNichols
REVIEW
I am Jazz is a nonfiction children's book that is told from a young transgender girl's point of view. Jazz's first-person account shares her journey in this children's book rich with inviting illustrations. A reader has the feeling as though Jazz is there with them, telling the story of what it means to be transgender. Her story is simple for children to follow and clearly explains terms, like transgender, in a way that young children can grasp. Jazz Jennings is one of the first younger transgender children to share her story publicly. She has become a role-model for many children who share her similar struggles.
This is a popular book in my house right now. After getting it from the library, I read it to my children(6 and 8). Now my daughter asks me to read it to her every night, and my son just recently read it to his cousin. It has been a joy to see the connections my daughter makes with Jazz as she feels they have a lot in common; they both like soccer, mermaids, and dressing-up in princess clothes, but she also feels for Jazz and will stop to ask me questions when Jazz shares her feelings of not being accepted for who she really is. I listened to my son read the book to his cousin and was very interested in the conversation that followed. I sat close by ready to facilitate the conversation if I felt I needed to. They discussed what it meant to be transgender, and I just listened as they worked it out between the two of them. His cousin wanted to know how Jazz grew her hair so long. They both giggle when my son replied, "The same way you did, Silly!"
Children in younger classrooms will enjoy the beautiful illustrations that accompany the story and make this book and its topic easy to understand. Jazz shares her feelings of trying to communicate with her family and school, but still feeling very misunderstood. Students may have questions about what it means to be transgender and this book will help them to understand in a way that is age-appropriate. It will also help them to feel empathy for children who are going through something hard in their life at such a young age.This book has been used in many classrooms already so there seems to be quite a bit of resources on the web.
CLASSROOMTOOL BOX
- This book makes for a great read-aloud. The discussions that follows will be rich and meaningful-stop and ask questions along the way. Under the links there are some great discussion questions.
- It might be great to invite someone from the community to come in and aid with the discussion and the terms in the book. This might be a counselor at your school who has been trained in gender issues or a local community LGBTQ advocate who can answer student questions.
I am Jazz lesson plan from Welcoming Schools.
I am Jazz Lesson Plan from Healthier Self
I am Jazz Lesson Plan and Resources
A Look at I am Jazz in the classroom and links to her reading the book
I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK. WHAT IDEAS DO YOU HAVE?
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