Soana Pole

Including a child's transgender story in a collection meant to highlight heroic and iconic women is a misleading and disingenuous act by the author. Initially, I found it very inspiring for my 8 year old daughter, who received it as a Christmas gift. She loved it, read every story, and discussed some of the women with me. She recognised a few of the women from school but learned about most of them from the book. Then she asked me about the Coy Mathis’ story. Her first question was, 'why did this boy want to be a girl?' followed by, 'can doctors change you if you're not happy with who you are?' Her subsequent comment was, 'why is this story so special that it had to be included in the book?' She hit the nail on the head. I then reviewed the entire book and was deeply disappointed. Coy Mathis would have been 9 or 10 years old when the book was first published. Why would a story about heroic women include a child's transgender story? It felt sneaky and manipulative. While an adult's decision to transition is their prerogative and choice, including a child's transgender story in a children's book about iconic women was a deceptive move. Furthermore, the Amazon 'About the Author' section states that Elena Favilli 'reinvented the fairy tale by trading princesses for real women who changed the world.' This story, however, was about a child, not a woman, let alone an iconic one. My disappointment is profound; 'extremely disappointed' doesn't even begin to describe it.