Princess Pete
Zoey Allen and Frenci Sanna
Walker Books

Let me tell you about Pete who acts as the book’s narrator. Sometimes Pete is a prince; other times Pete is a princess. Pete loves to play with the boys and sometimes with the girls. Pete has a fair few friends but is yet to have a best friend. Some days Pete dresses in ‘pink shorts. yellow tops, and blue wellies.’ Other days Pete will be seen clad in ‘green jumpers, flowery trousers and butterfly sandals.’

Pete enjoys playing beauty salon with Mum,

and also enjoys getting mucky. Sometimes Pete likes playing alone bringing imaginary worlds and dreams to life perhaps having beautiful pegacorns flying round about while hedgehogs sing.

This behaviour, confuses some people who ask if Pete is a boy, others ask if Pete’s a girl. It’s difficult for Pete to know how to respond sometimes but mum and dad tell such people that Pete is Pete.”Princess Pete!” our narrator tells us. “I may have been born a boy, but I don’t always feel like the boys. Sometimes I feel more like the girls. Sometimes I feel somewhere in between.”

Such language might very well be used by non-binary or gender-fluid children who have yet to acquire those words; it’s a good way help them explain how they feel, age- appropriately, especially if, as is shown in one of Frenci’s scenes, people are finger pointing at the protagonist. An affirming story for all.