I was expecting more on actual parenting. Instead this felt more like propaganda. As the parent of a queer teen (who also read parts of this along with me) I was let down.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

I HIGHLY recommend Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies by Lindz Amer to all parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, and everyone in between.

This incredible book offers so much guidance on raising our children in the most affirming and socially aware manner possible. Yes, its primary focus is on presenting LGBTQ+ identities and information in an age-appropriate way. But it also offers so much insight into broader issues of social justice and simply raising good humans who desire to make change in this world.

I truly believe this world will be better for all of us, not just our LGBTQ+ youth, if everyone reads this book!

I don’t have kids in the lgbtq community but I think it’s so important to have that compassion and understanding since there are so many youths that do not have someone in their corner. I feel like I’ma compassionate person but sometimes I am afraid to do or say the wrong thing. Books like this are so incredibly helpful!

Rainbow Parenting is absolutely the book I needed to read this summer!

With 3 kids who are all a part of the LGBTQ+ community, this gave me a lot of guidance, support, and encouragement.

We had a lot of sensitive conversations and I appreciate the insight that I’ve found through Rainbow Parenting.

Wonderful about parenting queer youth. This was a great resource for parents, caregivers, teachers or anyone interested in being a supporting adult to LGBTQIA+ youth. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and for putting such wonderfully thorough information into the world for people to read and educate themselves.

I felt this was really helpful to give insight, and help with the sense of community when you have none in a small town.

This book will be a great help for many parents who wonder how to approach gender and sexuality with their children.

As someone who strives to raise my child to be accepting, inclusive, and authentic, this book was a great read. I found it to have the most helpful information for parenting children younger than kindergarten aged.

It provides amazing resources for parents, book suggestions, for kids, and excellent suggestions on helping to raise children who can be themselves and who will accept others for who they are. Great read for pride month too!

The first part of this book was so scattered and disjointed that I could not keep reading. I appreciate the ARC.

A thoughtful and thought-provoking primer for parents, teachers and caregivers about the importance of raising children in a queer-affirming environment.

This book is full of actionable steps for adults that can help us create and maintain safe settings for children of all ages. The text is readable and propulsive, which can be a challenge for nonfiction. If you’ve ever seen Lindz on YouTube (I had not until I came across this read, but you won’t regret it!) you’ll expect great things, and this read is just as positive, encouraging, and succinct. Highly recommend to anyone who regularly interacts with children!

This is a book I wish I had read when I was expecting my children. Informative, joyful, and important all wrapped up in one. If you're looking for a new parent gift, a resource as a teacher of young children, or simply want to educate yourself for the sake of children in your life, this is the book to get. A quote that sticks out to me is, "I'm asking what the world would look like if all kids had access to all the information they need for themselves and to uplift and affirm and support and be allies to others." Rainbow Parenting guides you to being a source of that information! Everything from definitions to handling sensitive questions, to dealing with ignorance and beyond is talked about.

It says it right in the book, "This is more than a book you just read; it's a book you live out." So take the information here and go use it to make the world a brighter place for the littles in your life.

I don’t usually rate non fiction, but this one deserves 5 ⭐️ to get boosted and because it was the best piece of parenting advice literature I’ve read, not just because of the content, but because of the overall tone.

So many parenting guides come off preachy and judgemental, whereas this one had an overall sense of “we are all human, we are flawed, we make mistakes, but hey, here are 3 1/2 things you can start doing/saying today that can maybe make the world a better place, or at the very least will help turn your child into a kind and compassionate and respectful person”

Given the state this country is in currently, I am worried how this book will be perceived and abused to further anti- anything agendas, so as someone that generally tries to review any book I read from all angles and to consider both the good AND bad, let me tell you this: the author has done an incredible amount of research, backing up every stat regarding queer youth in the US with articles, case studies and other literature. They are not forcing any type of agenda on any parent or child, they are simply suggesting to rethink the way you talk TO and ABOUT your child. Most of the advice in this book is rooted in changing simple statements you make everyday, and if you mess up, or feel like you didn’t do yourself or your child justice, you can learn and try again tomorrow. This book’s main message is to spread queer joy, and to accept other human beings, especially your children, for who they are and help them as much as you can.

Gender affirming care is such a simple and basic concept that has been misconstrued over the past few years into something that seems scary and wrong to many people. The author does an amazing job not only giving tangible and simple advice on how to implement it into your life, but debunking it all together, and explaining what it’s actually supposed to be.

This is a must read not only for parents, but for any and all people that have children in their lives (teachers, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, godparents, etc etc)

In Rainbow Parenting, Lindz Amer provides an ages-and-stages guide for parents who want to create a safe, gender-affirming oasis for the children in their lives. And really, not just parents, but anyone who interacts with children. There are no boxes you have to squeeze into here - queer joy abounds! This book is something we so desperately need right now. I'm certain, as more and more people read and learn from Amer's experience and wisdom, it's the kind of book that helps make the world a better place.

This book is a great starting out point for parents to help raise empathetic and welcoming people. It is limited and should be considered just an example.

For the most part, I loved this book. I thought it had a lot of really great information and it was broken down in a way that made sense to talk to kids of different ages. I loved how a lot of the concepts built on each other, which is how kids learn things. I loved that it covered so many different topics within being queer, gender, sexuality, sex & health, etc etc.

The one thing I really didn't enjoy: the longggggg chapters. I felt like some chapters, especially the kindergarten+ chapter, could have been broken down into multiple chapters based on content.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the book I’ve been waiting for! A book about that truly respects children’s intellect and their capacity for complex and nuanced thought combined with best practices surrounding all things LGBTQIA+! Amer calls on personal experience to share the importance of this work as well as the mistakes folks may make along the way. This book is accessible to folks who are coming to it from all different levels of personal experience or background knowledge. As an elementary school educator, I am going to be recommending this to my school’s librarian for our adult collection for parents/guardians, to the families of my students, and to all of the faculty and staff at my school. I look forward to Amer’s next ventures! I’m the meantime, my class is going to watch lots more Queer Kids Stuff!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I think the content covered in this book is important, and it’s high time for it to be on shelves, accessible for anyone with a child in their life. I think the information was presented well and the author’s commentary and examples/illustrations of the points being made was helpful for me personally. I learned a lot, and some of it was uncomfortable to read—but so so important to consider.

Received a copy for review.

This book had a lot of great information. It would be an excellent resource for every person to read.

This book is wonderful in many ways, but it is Not Ready for Prime Time.

First, the first 15% is irrelevant and virtually unreadable. This content belongs at the end of the book, as supplementary material for those who want or need it. It's personal to the author and not necessarily relevant to the topic. I would advise readers to start the book at the section on childism, because that's where the relevant content begins.

Second, the book repeatedly discriminates against ace/aro people by excluding straight and cis people from the LGBTQ+ umbrella. As someone who's straight, cis, and demisexual, it's a big struggle for me to feel like I "deserve" to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. But the fact is, my sexuality is marginalized. When a book called "Rainbow Parenting" marginalizes me, it's basically saying I don't belong anywhere.

Finally, I gave up on this book at the 70% mark when it said, "White and white-passing people are inherently racist." I am so done with this harmful and polarizing use of language. There's a difference between unconscious bias and racism. The topic is already fraught without using punitive language. It benefits zero people to say that all white people are racist. It can only cause harm. So please, let's stop doing it.

I'll be honest. I'm questioning my straight, cis, white privilege as I write this. It doesn't feel comfortable to call out these things in a book that includes so much good content—a book that's so necessary. At the same time, I feel like the author's message is undermined by their use of offensive and exclusionary language. This is literally a book about teaching children how not to be offensive and exclusionary. So yeah, maybe I'm holding it up to an unfair and even unachievable standard. I hope the ARC has been sent to sensitivity readers, and the offensive content will be removed prior to publication.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.