Call Me Max (Max and Friends 1) paperback

Great book. Written for a younger audience to explain gender and transitioning and a whole lot more about the world. I know a lot of boomers who would benefit from reading this.I'm now donating my copy to a local library so it is available to more readers.

I bought this book because it has recently been banned in FL, so I wanted to show my support to the author. “Call Me Max” is age appropriate and does an excellent job explaining to a younger audience what it means to be trans. The illustrations are colorful, whimsical and drawn in a way that children will love following along with Max’s journey. In 2023 children need more books like this to know that it’s ok to be exactly who you are.

I highly recommend this book for all kids regardless of gender identification. It’s a great explanation of what it means to be trans and really helps to get those conversations going with young readers. I especially appreciate how the book explains what it means to be trans without relying on stereotypes that perpetuate gender binaries (e.g. Max realized that not wanting to wear dresses isn’t what makes him a boy because his friend is a boy who likes to wear dresses). I also love that this book takes on some of the challenges young trans kids may face at school without making them seem too scary. I have a five-year-old trans son who loves this book. It helped us to talk about some things that are hard to address while also letting him feel seen and heard. I love that this book is written by a trans author who shares more of his experiences at the end.I do hope to see more picture books that feature trans, non-binary, or gender nonconforming kiddos as regular kids doing regular kid things (in other words, not every picture book with trans kids has to make their “transness” the plot), but I still wish every kid would have a grownup to read this book with them.When Aiden Became a Brother is another great choice, and is perhaps even better because it focuses on a trans kid of color. These books give hope for a brighter future!

What a wonderful book for all, not just children. I will happily buy every book in this series and continue to teach my children to be kind and inclusive.

My 8-year old daughter loves this series. It challenges the notions that she already had concerning what boys and girls should and should not wear or what they should and should not play with. I am glad about that. It’s a lot easier to just accept people however they are than to go and judge them for their lack of conformity to fairly arbitrary gender norms. It also casually explains the concept of being transgender, but in such a way that it isn’t the focus of the story. It’s portrayed in a matter-of-fact way, which allows her to understand the concept and see it as something that some kids and adults simply are.

I am so happy with this book. I’m a queer mom and my child is so bright and non judgmental. It’s a great time in his life to help strengthen his acceptance and love for all types of people. Let’s face it- kids get negative messages at school, flattening concepts of gender and sexuality. So books like these help keep his mind open! So sweetly written and perfect for my little one!

My kiddo and I love this book! I really like that it is broken down into chapters and is nice to read aloud. It is wonderful to see a child like mine reflected in a book. I would definitely recommend this for every kid- especially if you're the parent of a trans/gender-diverse kiddo that needs more stories about kids like them!

Wanted to start the conversation of transgender and acceptance with my daughter early. This book really helped with that. Defining the word as they do in this book was very helpful and easy to understand. My daughter was engaged and understanding of the intended message of the book and that's what we got it for.

Really confusing for children, since it neglects entirely to mention the facts of children's bodies - male and female. Instead it makes gender to be simply, completely some sort of spontaneous inner feeling of a young child - which can easily be independent of the biological body. As a parent I know that's not how gender is learned.