’Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution’ is a brilliant introduction for children both to the events at the Stonewall Inn that would begin the change in both the US and across the world over LGBTQAI+ rights and to the lives of Sylvia Riviera and Marsha P. Johnson.

The illustrations are bright and full of character enabling younger readers to follow the story and I loved them. I can easily imagine showing it to a younger child and explaining to them the events of Stonewall and why it was indeed a Revolution.

Although there isn't a lot of text, there is enough to guide the tale along and I liked how ’Here comes Alice in the Blue Dress’ was used as the Police were called by several names including ’Alice Blue Gown’. The author has in this simple concept shown how careful Homosexual men and Transgender women had to be to avoid arrest.

My only criticism I have about the story itself is it paints an unrealistic history. The Stonewall Rebellion or Riots lasted for six days, and the book implies heavily that it was one and then everything on Christopher Street, Greenwich was back to normal the next day. This is far from accurate but I do understand that the full story is a difficult one.

At the end of the book is a glossary of terms which will help anyone who isn't certain of what certain terminology means, not just children. I can see how the whole book will open the eyes to children and their families and will open up a conversation that may never happen otherwise.

With activity suggestions like a protest sign or a crown like Marsha? This book is a must in any school or home to teach children about a globally historic moment.

Such a wonderful children's book about very influential trans activists. It acknowledges that the history provided here is just one account of the events, and provides amazing resources for children and parents at the end. Great for younger and even middle grade students!

This is an excellent book for younger children! It's a great way to introduce children to trans people, LGBT+ history and making the world a better place. It would be great for trans children, and for other children whether they know a trans person or not.

There were lots of useful resources at the end of the book: discussion questions for parents and teachers, websites for further reading, clear definitions of key words and even craft activities.

I highly recommend this book to families and teachers of primary school aged children.

I loved this book!!

I thought that this book was great and it is a brilliant introduction to Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson - brilliant people who started a revolution - the book is a great way to encourage children to want to know more about these fabulous and inspirational characters!

They were leading characters in the transgender community and the book is a great way to explain more about this to younger children. The images in the book really sited the story and brought it to lie for me - It is 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended!

This book is a short read, it's aimed at young children to introduce them to these well-known people in the transgender community,

The illustrations are full of character and are charming. There isn't a lot of text which is great for young readers. But there is a couple of pages of text for older readers, explaining in a few more details the story behind this piece of history. There is also a glossary of the terms used that people may not be familiar with.

I really like that there are discussions questions for adults to discuss with the child. It will really help them to understand what the book is about. There are also further resources that you can look at with your child and also more books for you to read.

At the end, there are two activities, one to make a protest sign with your child, and another to make a flower crown like Marsha. I think these are really great additions to the book.

The illustrations of this picture book aren’t my cup of tea, but I think we need more books like this one, to help children know and understand the history of the lgbt community.

I love reading different books on Stonewall that are aimed at children, but I was very disappointed in Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution. I was especially excited that it featured Marsha Johnson so prominently in the title and on the cover and thought it might offer a bit more biographical info on her. Instead, the book read like fiction, like a picture book. The book also seemed to lack focus, making the two women's efforts to support homeless youths the primary cause that Sylvia and Marsha involved themselves in. That's not wrong, but Stonewall was this awkward interlude that lasted a couple pages and then the next day, everything was back to normal. In this book's telling, there really is no revolution.

This book is a must for all classrooms, especially with the introduction of the new RSE curriculum.It is so much more than a story-it is a resource regarding transgender rights and lives. The book starts with the basic story of Sylvia and Marsha-their friendship, their desire to help others, the prejudice they faced as they were wearing dresses. The story does not go into a vast amount of detail so is appropriate for younger years. However, following the story there is background to the Stonewall Rebellion and a glossary of terms to support older readers, parents and teachers.There is also a questions section to use in conversations about the topic, resources and signposts to other related books,In this sense, the book could be used by a number of year groups as certain elements are appropriate for certain years.
I enjoyed the fact that the story focused on the friendship, kindness, generosity and determination to challenge prejudice and overcome oppression as opposed to it all being about them being transgender. For me, it demonstrates clearly that transgender people are human beings. This is a key point as still today prejudice exists for transgender people and the more we can educate children (the next generation), the better things will be in the future.