The Blurb On The Back:

ABC Pride

Young readers can learn their ABCs while discovering the fabulous world of Pride!  Simple definitions and colourful illustrations are paired to make learning the alphabet fun and inclusive.  

ABC PRIDE was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd June 2022.  Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order ABC PRIDE by Dr Elly Barnes and Louie Stowell from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Dr Elly Barnes is an educationalist and founder of Educate & Celebrate, a charity that focuses on diversity and inclusiveness.  Louie Stowell is a successful children’s author.  This ABC picture book for readers aged 3+ is a colourful celebration of Pride, inclusiveness and social justice with bold illustrations by Amy Phelps that enhance and reinforce its messages plus discussion points at the end to help readers understand the concepts.  

ABC picture books are such an important part of the development of young readers given that they lay the literal bedrock for understanding language.  They’re also books that stay with you long after you’ve moved on from them (e.g. it’s been over 40 years since my parents helped me get to grips with my first ABC book but I still remember that K is for Katie the kind kangaroo).

Barnes and Stowell have built this ABC book around Pride, inclusiveness and social justice and speaking as a bit of a leftie, I think that’s a great thing to introduce young children to.  For example, Barnes and Stowell use Acceptance, Belonging, Justice, Love, Out, Trans, and Xe as words to discuss in the book all of which are gorgeously enhanced by Phelps’s illustrations, which use bold colours and plenty of diversity.  Some of the ideas here may be a little confusing for young readers but there’s a very helpful list of things that parents/care-givers/educators can discuss with them after to help them understand.

All in all, if you want to raise your young reader to be pro-inclusion, pro-LGBTQ+ and pro-social justice then this is absolutely the ABC book that you should be giving to them.