This book was so sweet and charming, and a fantastic children’s book that isn’t speaking down to children, but meeting them where they’re at and I think would be great for developing conversation around LGBTQ themes. I also loved the illustrations.

This was a cute book! Overall, it wasn’t my favorite pride book, but I still loved the art style! I liked the diversity and inclusion

ABC Pride, by Louie Stowell, Elly Barnes, and Amy Phelps, is an exciting and engaging children’s picture book that introduces its young readers to key concepts important to the LGBTQIA+ community in a safe, warm, and educational way. The eye-catching, vibrant illustrations that accompany each letter of the alphabet portray humans in all of their brilliant diversity, showing individuals and family units of different races, genders, sizes, and abilities who are celebrated for their differences and honored for their shared humanity. It is a comfort to know that today’s children have such a book to see themselves, their families, and their friends reflected in. I particularly appreciated that this book did not just define the labels used by LGBTQIA+ people but also highlighted words such as acceptance and celebration to guide young readers towards both a greater understanding and greater empathy. This book achieves what it sets out to do: create a space for children to explore, ask questions, and have conversations with trusted adults. While some of the words were a bit advanced for the target demographic, with a parent or caregiver around willing to provide context and additional explanation, this will make a great teaching guide and building block for further inquiry.

ABC Pride is a lovely book filled with vocab words and concepts to introduce children to. The illustrations were beautiful and colorful, a true reflection of how diverse the queer community is. If anything, I wish the book rhymed a little more, but it will be a great addition to every family's collection. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is a simple alphabet definition book on concepts and ideas around pride. The illustrations are bright and colorful to keep the reader interested. And most of the definitions work quite well. Personally, I have issues with the way some of them are worded or how they put things. Things like “W is for wig. Fake hair that some people wear for fun.” I wish this had something in there instead of saying they wear it for fun or just say a wig is fake hair that people wear. Or A wig is hair that does not grow on their head. Overall, it’s a great book.

ABC Pride did an excellent job of addressing various fundimental concepts about Pride and LBGTQ+. Many of the alphabet letters were generic themes around topics such as kindness and values which are important to all. The imagery was very appealing for young readers, being bright and colorful and full of diverse graphics. As a parent, I particularly appreciated the questions at the end of the book which helped with discussion and dialogue with my young readers. We all learned something new in this read and were also able to share with each other things we knew or appreciated about supporting the LBGTQ+ community.

A is for Acceptance
B is for Belonging
C is for Celebration

ABC Pride is a colorful children’s book for ages 3-5 that utilizes words used around Pride for to create an inclusive, beautiful alphabet book.

Cover: ABC Pride Cover is a gorgeous collage of people in multiple colors. It is definitely inviting to the reader. I’m not between 3-5 and I requested it just based on the colorful cover!

Illustrations: I loved the bright, crisp illustrations that more cartoon than realistic. The illustrations are cute and enduring. Many different types of bodies in different colors and shapes are used throughout the book to provide representation for many different types of people.

Story: ABC Pride does not have a story but does have a logical progression with the alphabet. I feel like the Z letter was a nice conclusion and parting thought on the book. There is also a short glossary for parents who may not be familiar with some words such as non-binary.

Age-Appropiate: This book is definitely age-appropriate and uses universal words that are not specific to the queer community like acceptance and belonging. Some of the illustrations convey messages about queer people existing in the world such as two women in a wedding under celebration. The book never explicitly talks about sex or sexual orientation and any content is phrased around “who you love.” Several letters define common gender terms such as non-binary and trans.

Verdict: I would absolutely recommend this book for your pre-school classroom library or for a small person you have in your life!

ARC provided to me by DK Publishing, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and DK Children for the DRC of ”ABC Pride" by Louie Stowell and Elly Barnes. What an absolute pleasure of a book to read. This may be marketed as a children’s book, but this book is for everyone! Each letter of the alphabet is used as a starting point to teach about Pride. Beautiful and bold illustrations accompany each word, and a short definition/explanation about the word and what it means in the context of Pride. This book is positive, uplifting, and accepting. I would highly recommend this to anyone and EVERYONE. This is one that I will definitely be adding to my own print collection at home. There’s also some great discussion questions to use as starting points when talking with learners about the many different and wonderful aspects of Pride.

ABC Pride
by Louie Stowell; Elly Barnes

I received a digital copy of this picture book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to preface this by saying I personally grew up in a rural area with almost no diversity so I’m raising my children in an area with much more diversity including members of the LGBTQAI2S+ community in our extended chosen family, church family and among our friends. The way I raise my kiddos is that everyone’s unique in their own way and as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else that’s just fine and that it’s not a big deal.

Representation is important, seeing people in books that represent themselves or the people they care about makes a big difference for kids.

Some of the words will require added context from parents to explain further. Sometimes it’s nice to add your own context like for us it would be - yes see they’re just like your BFFs two aunts that we went to the pumpkin patch with. They’re kids call them mom and mommy.

Some parents may be looking for a book that does all the explanations for them on a topic they don’t feel fully knowledgeable of. This is not really a book that will hold your hand through the topics if that’s your situation,it’s more of a framework to build a larger conversation on.

Great pictures. Very colorful. 4.5/5 only because there are words like stereotype that will be difficult for kids in the ABC book age bracket to grasp because it’s not something you hear in conversation often at that age.

What I really appreciated about this book is that it is clearly aimed at kids. Sometimes ABC books about something like gender or sexuality have so many definitions and less words that show the spirit of the thing - Pride especially. This is joyful, educational, and inclusive without sounding like a text book. Also the art is so lovely!

I was super stoked to get approved for this cute and inclusive children's book. I hope to see more like it, especially after a local preschool teacher had to resign after teaching kids the ABCs and had a drawing of a "pregnant man" in one picture.

Anyway. This book. It's adorable. Beautiful and creative illustrations and words to go with the alphabet letters. Solid representation, not only across the queer spectrum but also different abilities, cultures, and ethnicities. 💯 Do recommend.

This was an adorable book, with fantastically inclusive illustrations. It is a great way to introduce youngsters to the concepts of equality and LGBTQ+. While the pictures are engaging enough for little ones, I think some of the vocabulary is best suited for preschoolers and up. It has some great follow-up questions in the back to kickstart important conversations with the readers.

This book was given to me as an ARC through NetGalley and all thoughts are my own.

This is a very sweet book that introduces kids to a number of LGBTQ+ topics, including different identities (e.g., N is for non-binary), celebrations (e.g., M is for march, P is for pride), and experiences (e.g., S is for stereotypes). What I love most about this book is it’s focus on teaching kids kindness and acceptance. It describes equity, justice, and human rights in accessible language for children, and shows kids that every person, no matter their identity, has value and belongs.

This book has a good choice for each letter of the alphabet to represent LGBTQIA. It is appropriate for kids. Nicely done.

ABC Pride is a beautiful introduction to important vocabulary related to gender and sexuality issues, as well as simple tolerance and kindness. The illustrations are vibrant and the heart behind the message left me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

Adorable book! I think some of the words may be a little complex for the intended age, but going on the assumption that a parent is reading it with their child, it opens up the chance to explain further. The colors, illustrations, and designs are all phenomenal, I was absolutely blown away by the pictures. I would definitely put this on a shelf for my future kid.

Vibrant, detailed full-color illustrations kept my kid enraptured by this book. And I particularly want to talk about the detail here. There is not an inch of wasted space. Plants fill out backgrounds, stars fill skies, there's even texture given to walls, to help add depth to backgrounds. And in the foreground, you'll come across a lot of animals, clothing accessories, and welcoming faces. Illustrator Amy Phelps did just a phenomenal job.

The text is also very well-done. Each letter gets a word about being queer or social activism, explained in one or two dozen words. I particularly love that the word for E is "EQUITY," not "EQUALITY," and the illustration--kids using a different number of boxes to get some height to pick fruit--is a great visual. I spent quite a bit of extra time on that page with my kid, pointing out how each person was given what they needed to succeed. Also, pride-themed ABC books sure have an advantage when it comes to "X," since they can cover xe/xem pronouns!

To round it all out, the book ends with a couple discussion questions, such as "What rights would you march for?" and "Which clothes make you feel good?"

I loved this book, and I'm so thankful that the publisher gave me an ARC to read with my kid. <3

Pride is something that holds a lot of value in my life and even as an adult I get emotional over the kids books being published now and the amazing stories we are allowing to be read. This was nowhere short of that reaction. I have a 2 year old and I will without a doubt be buying them a copy of this book because it is beautiful.

What a cool book. It is structured like a regular ABC learning the alphabet book, but with pride terminology. A for acceptance, B for belonging and C for celebrate. The words, colors, and illustrations are a perfect way to celebrate pride month (and obviously EVERY month). I would recommend it to anyone wanting to show young children what it means to be inclusive.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and DK Children for the chance to review this.

This book would have been life changing to me as a child. I am honored to be able to teach my kids of all ages these important terms and learning some of them myself! It is clear, colorful, and concise. An absolute must-have for any diverse library!