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Birthdate: 1977
Gender: female
Awards and honors: Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People (2022)
Nationality: Canada
Associated Place (for map): Canada

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291 reviews

Caroline77 237 reviews

Pink, Blue, and You!: Questions for Kids about Gender Stereotypes by Elise Gravel

Pink, Blue, And You! is about gender essentialism and gender identity and is one of the newer social-justice children’s books. I was happy to find it by chance in a display at my local library, and seeing Elise Gravel listed as the author convinced me that I just had to read it. Gravel has written many books, but I’m most familiar with, and a fan of, her cute and informative “Critters” series. I also read and loved her The Mushroom Fan Club earlier this year. As with those books, show more Pink, Blue, And You! has big, bold lettering; simplistic but cute illustrations; and text that educates. It also provokes thought.

The book promotes the recognition and embracing of one’s true self. It reminded me a bit of Todd Parr's many joyfully colored, acceptance-promoting books, but Pink, Blue, And You! is aimed at an audience a tad older and confronts more. One page sums up the book’s message: “No matter who we are, what we like, how we feel, how we dress, and what our body looks like, we ALL deserve to be loved, protected, and respected.”

The book also presents this food for thought, among others:
The use of pronouns “she,” “he,” and “they,” stressing the importance of honoring people’s pronouns of choice

How gendered expectations of women and men limit their full expression as unique human beings

The many varied configurations of “family” (everything from two dads and a child to those with simply a grandparent and child)

Career expectations of men and women (both the careers themselves and how much each is able to advance in their career)

The gendering of neutral things, such as clothing, literature, toys, hairstyles, interest in dinosaurs, colors, video/computer games, and more
I’m especially grateful this book addresses the arbitrariness of gendering, because it’s a point that tends to get overlooked in ongoing conversations about gender equality, feminism, and toxic masculinity. Gravel underlined the fact that gendering is entirely a social construct, that we slot clothing and other neutral things into gender categories. We create, internalize, and then promote gender-essentialist views as a default. Then we believe that boys and girls just naturally like these things we gendered for them. Thankfully, there’s growing awareness of how irrational and wrong it is to gender toys and academic subjects, but there’s even more gendering that we don’t give a single thought to, such as the gendering of garments (e.g., dresses) and even fabrics (e.g., velvet). We’re still progressing.

More and more people are understanding the importance of starting young with these lessons. Aimed at an audience with brains in development, Gravel’s book and others like it are an example of using children’s literature to its full advantage. Many adults will find the book thought-provoking too, but for a healthier, more peaceful future society, writing these books for a young audience is smart of authors. What’s tragic is that this one could end up near the top of the new banned-books lists.

Complementary reading: Consent (for Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of YOU show less

Oct 7, 2024 (Edited)3 other reviews

LDVoorberg 879 reviews

The Cockroach (Disgusting Critters) by Elise Gravel

So fun to read about this critter typically associated with a sense of disgust and disdain in a very human, factual, comical manner. The illustrations are great and create all the humour. They're living things, just like the rest of us. I totally advise holding a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach in your hand if you ever get the chance. Very tickly and fascinating, given that they're 3 inches or more long! How can you read this book and not feel a little less hateful towards them?

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Apr 22, 202012 other reviews

JennyArch 8,025 reviews

True Colors: Growing Up Weird in the '90s by Elise Gravel

Pure, unadulterated tween diary content, full of autobiographical feelings, worries, and fears (the other human characters - her best friend Asma and new friend Camille - are invented). Creative, crafty Elise is easily obsessed and easily bored, discovering and abandoning hobbies quickly, but fortunately for readers, she sticks with this diary for a while: she writes and draws about her best friendship with Asma ("What's the difference between loving a friend and being in love?" (176)), show more decorating her study planner, the boys in their class, insomnia, anxiety, and weird facts. Sometimes, brief how-tos are included (how to make a purse out of old jeans (46), how to fold a note neatly (121)). Confessional and relatable.

Quotes

I'm not happy about how often I do that. I pretend to be interested in the same things as other girls. I pretend to be like them. I pretend to think like them. (34)

Here are a few of the problems my brain tried to tackle last night:
Do I have an actual personality, or am I just a collage of what I think other people want me to be?
Would I fall in love with me if I were someone else?
Why am I the only person I know without a passion in life?
[Brain] "My specialty? Questions that nobody can answer!" (102) show less

Sep 4, 2025

sweetiegherkin 2,732 reviews

Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

Arlo, a crow, declares himself the best kind of bird and defends his position with reasons like intelligence, mimicry, etc. to a small yellow bird named Pips. But despite his bragging, Arlo finds a friend in Pips and the two have small adventures together.

This was a fantastic short read. It is a hybrid between a graphic novel and an early reader, and I'm glad to see more and more books in this vein. The two birds and their adventures are funny, but the book is also chockful of real facts show more about crows so children will also learn some science from reading this title. It's clear that more books on the way featuring these two lovable characters and I for one am excited to read them as they publish. show less

Oct 31, 202110 other reviews

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