What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns

Two nonbinary creators unite for this picture book about Ari, a narrator who sports an asymmetrical haircut and is excited about a visit from Uncle Lior, a biologist with a dark pompadour who uses they and them pronouns. Aware that pronouns can “change depending on how I feel,” Lior asks, “What are your words, Ari?” whenever they drop by. Locke offers an affirming, changeable look at pronoun usage in accessible prose as Ari searches for the right pronouns to use on the day of the neighborhood’s “big summer bash.” On the way to the barbecue, Lior, Ari, and Ari’s older sister Rachel, all brown-skinned, encounter neighbors of varying abilities and skin tones, whose adjectives and pronouns float above them (“Artistic! Sweet! Kind! Ze/zir”). Passchier adds friendly, geometric-based digital art in a mainly triadic color scheme of goldenrod, light indigo, and seagreen. A capable celebration of the rich range of pronouns. Ages 4–8. [em](May) [/em]