Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!, too much for too young

I was teaching a fifth-grade class the other year and one of the smarter (see: clever) kids asked me, “Mr. Trey, did you just misgender me?” The kid then followed it up with, “Mr. Trey, what are your pronouns?” Without missing a beat, I said, “Dude, my pronouns are Shut and Up, now be quiet and do your work.” It was obvious that this student was not curious about today’s social morays or furthering the cause of gender identity. He was mocking it, knew that I would get his quip and suspected that the rest of the class would be oblivious to his verbal prank, and he was correct.

I mention that story to say that Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today? is an illustrated book geared for early elementary-aged students. It’s an illustrated book that makes The Sublime Ms. Stacks come across as wholesome as The Waltons or as a needed introduction for today’s youth who need a pronoun that they change according to their mood, depending on your view.  

The book starts by telling young audiences that pronouns tell people about what gender you are, and that gender is how you express yourself. To express yourself you can listen to that song from Madonna, wear different clothing or use a pronoun of your choice, like he, she, they, ze, hir, fe, or per. Those final three pronouns feel like I accidentally grafted descriptors from LOTR into this review, but more on that in a moment. You can use whatever pronoun that you want to because your moods will change, it’s ok if you haven’t chosen a pronoun yet and anyone who intentionally uses the wrong pronoun is mean and hurtful. It also shows the joy and happiness that the kids have when left to their own devices or not being called the wrong pronoun by substitute teachers.  

The illustrations in Hooray for She, He, Ze and They! are softly drawn and the sort that will entertain those ages. For the most part, the text is optimistic and concentrates on kids being comfortable and learning to love themselves for who they are.

The major issue with the book is that early elementary school audiences could just as easily identify as a unicorn as they could with ze, hir, fae and per. Most parents just want their children to correctly use pronouns in everyday communication, as opposed to being certain to cover every angle in the alphabet soup.

The other issue with introducing this concept to those ages is that they’re already telling their friends that they’re gay or trans when they’re not. How can I get the most attention? What’s the most shocking thing that I could say to my elementary school peers that would make them talk about me? It could be telling their peers that they’re gay or to please refer to them as a different pronoun.

For the record, I do not care what pronoun you want to use or where you sit in the alphabet soup.  However, those young ages can’t just throw those things out there and not expect their peers to take notice. I spend almost every working day in some elementary or middle school, I see how kids treat it other and what they say when they think that no teachers are listening.

Hooray for She, He, Ze and They! is certainly well intended, but the audience is just too young to grasp its lesson. It introduces something that’s exceedingly rare, even on college campuses, and aims to make it approachable to ages five and up. In reality, it’s an illustrated book that will never make it to elementary school libraries, unless it’s to virtue signal how progressive and open-minded the librarian is, or in LGBTQ book shops in midtown.

A friend of mine taught a youth in middle school who switched their pronouns, as well as, their first name during the school year. One time the teacher referred to the student by their last name, which reduced them to tears. The next day that same student stopped talking and would only communicate with written notes. The next week that student had gone onto their newly adopted name and new pronoun, but was thankfully speaking to the administrators again.  

I mention that story to illustrate that students and kids will find ways to stand out, get attention, or to genuinely be themselves. Introducing content to them at an elementary age that could just as easily muddy the waters as it could clear it up is something best left to parents. Kids like the aforementioned student who switched pronouns do exist, and there are resources for the very few of them to adjust and deal with it. This book is one of those resources; but it’s bound to attract many more eyes on the pronoun lunacy that some have grown to accept, than the knowledge it intends to spread.  

Hooray for She, He, Ze and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today, is by Lindz Amer with illustrations by Kip Alizadeh and is available on Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

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