The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids: A Guide to Exploring Who You Are

by Kelly Storck LCSW, Diane Ehrensaft PhD (Foreword by), Noah Grigni (Illustrator)

Overview

"A sensitive and empowering exploration of identity and expression that both educates and celebrates."
—School Library Journal

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids offers fun, age-appropriate activities to help your child explore their identity and discover unique ways to navigate gender expression at home, in school, and with friends.

Transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) children need validation and support on their journey toward self-discovery. Unfortunately, due to stigma and misinformation, these kids can be especially vulnerable to bullying, discrimination, and even mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. The good news is that there are steps you can take to empower your child as they explore, understand, and affirm their gender identity. This important workbook will guide you both.

In this guide, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in gender-nonconforming youth offers real tools to help your child thrive in all aspects of life. You and your child will discover a more expansive way of understanding gender; gain insight into gender diverse thoughts, feelings, and experiences; and find engaging activities with fun titles such as, “Apple, Oranges, and Fruit Bowls” and “Pronoun Town” to help your child to explore their own unique identity in a way that is age-appropriate and validating.

No child experiences gender in a vacuum, and children don’t just transition—families do. Let this workbook guide you and your child on this important journey in their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684030309
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	04/01/2018
Edition description:	Workbook
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	543,425
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kelly Storck, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with a private therapy practice in St. Louis, MO. Kelly’s focus is in gender care and advocacy for transgender rights. Along with this work, Kelly presents workshops and trainings on issues relevant to gender diversity with intent to help support the greater health, well-being, and liberty of people of all genders.

Diane Ehrensaft, PhD, is director of mental health, and a founding member of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Child and Adolescent Gender Center Clinic. She is a developmental and clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area.


Illustrator Noah Raffaello Grigni (he/they) is a queer, genderqueer, trans masculine artist and organizer from Decatur, Georgia, currently living in Boston, Massachusetts, whose work focuses on themes of dysphoria, resilience, and finding strength in community. They create art to process personal experiences, navigate and confront systems of power, unlearn the binary, and celebrate trans and queer love. Noah’s art is a reminder to heal, an introspective conversation with fluidity, and a call for trans people to resist the false narratives pushed onto us and define ourselves on our own terms. Through art and advocacy, Noah hopes to create spaces for emerging LGBTQ artists and provide educational resources to trans kids, especially those living in conservative environments. You can view Noah’s work at noahgrigni.com, or follow them on instagram @ngrigni.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword xi

Hello, Parents! xiii

Hello, Kid! xv

Section 1 Understanding Gender

Activity 1 What Is Gender? 2

Activity 2 Apples and Oranges 5

Activity 3 Breaking Out of the Binary 9

Activity 4 Gender in the Animal World 13

Activity 5 Gender Around the World 15

Activity 6 Gender Through History 19

Activity 7 We Are All Stars 24

Activity 8 All Kinds of Bodies 28

Activity 9 Pronoun Town 32

Activity 10 Getting Gender Off Our Stuff! 36

Activity 11 We Are All Growing 40

Section 2 Understanding Me

Activity 12 Finding Your Own Style 46

Activity 13 Toys Are Toys 52

Activity 14 Names Are Names 55

Activity 15 My Body 58

Activity 16 We Can't Always See What's on the Inside 62

Activity 17 The Three "Tents" 66

Activity 18 My Space in the Spectrum 71

Activity 19 My Birth Certificate 76

Activity 20 Self-Portrait 78

Section 3 Being Me

Activity 21 What Is a Social Transition? 82

Activity 22 Is Social Transition Right for Me? 85

Activity 23 My Dream Room 88

Activity 24 Parents Are VIPs-Very Important People 92

Activity 25 Siblings 96

Activity 26 Sharing Your Gender 99

Activity 27 Helpers Are for Helping 105

Activity 28 Being You at School 108

Activity 29 I Don't Have a Secret, I Have Privacy 113

Activity 30 How to Handle Questions 117

Activity 31 Gender and Religion 122

Activity 32 Peeing in Peace 126

Activity 33 Magic Wand Experiment 129

Activity 34 Your Important and Changing Body 132

Activity 35 Taking Care of Yourself 137

Activity 36 Gender Is Just a Part of Me 139

Activity 37 Highs and Lows 143

Glossary 147

Interviews

Storck resides in St. Louis, MO; Ehrensaft resides in Oakland, CA.

Editorial Reviews

This is the book that I’ve been waiting for! Many parents with a gender-expansive child worry early on that they may ‘push the child to be transgender’ by allowing them to express their gender differences. And many well-meaning adults worry that other parents, therapists, and medical professionals will also push a child towards transitioning. This book answers each of those concerns. By providing a young person with bite-sized lessons about both identity and expression, and asking thought-provoking, open-ended questions, kids are offered a chance to figure out exactly who they are and where they fit on their own, with no pressure and no judgement. It’s past time for us to have such a valuable tool, and I’m excited about being able to suggest it and share it with parents, teachers, and anyone who regularly works with youth.”
—Debi Jackson, parent of a transgender daughter, trans youth advocate, speaker, and trainer

Debi Jackson

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is something I wish I’d had when our daughter transitioned, but so thankful to have now! We found the activities relevant, eye-opening, and age-appropriate for both of our children. Most importantly, it got us talking as a family about topics that we may not have discussed, and opened up conversation about being inclusive of others in ways we hadn’t yet tackled. In addition, I’ve spent my entire career as an educator, and have seen schools slowly integrating conversation and activities around gender identity into many programs. This book will be a true game changer in that space, allowing schools to use portions where needed, or, as a unit to address school social-emotional goals. We often forget that that all people have a gender identity, and this workbook truly makes that evident, ensuring that regardless of a child’s identity, we are all unique, special, and worthy of celebrating!"
—Vanessa Ford, MAT, parent advocate

Vanessa Ford

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is a gift to families whose young children may be struggling to come to terms with and realize unique identities. Kelly’s comprehensive work has the potential to transform a potentially anxiety-ridden time into one of celebration and fruition. This is the first guide I have seen that skillfully and compassionately guides children, living in today’s social environments, to handle difficult questions and attitudes they might face from peers. The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is a much-needed contribution to the library of any parent or caregiver of a gender-nonconforming child. I certainly wish this book had been available when we began our journey with our transgender son. Brava!”
—Mimi Lemay, author, and member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council

Mimi Lemay

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is just what it says it is: instant help for parents and kids. We have needed a gender guide for kids, families, and providers, and Kelly Storck has created the perfect companion. The book includes fun, simple language, great graphics, and useful activities to navigate school, families, friends, and the inner journey to understand and then rejoice in one’s own gender. Thank you, Kelly!”
—Jen Hastings, MD, director of the Transgender Healthcare Program, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte; Medical Advisory Board, UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender Health; director of Medical Programming, Gender Spectrum

Jen Hastings

DeShanna: I really enjoyed the different activities this workbook had to offer for both parents and kids. I also believe this is a workbook that could help medical and mental health providers, as well as educators, understand more about the gender spectrum of the young gender-diverse people they work with. This workbook can change the narrative and change hearts and minds.

Trinity: I really liked all of this book; however, my favorite part was seeing all the trans people throughout history that have helped us progress. I really loved that many of them looked like me, a black trans girl, and gave me more hope and confidence that I too can make history and the world an even better place.”
—DeShanna Neal, public advocate and mother of Trinity Neal (public advocate and transgender girl)

DeShanna Neal

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is a must-have for parents, gender-diverse kids, and professionals who work with them. Kelly Storck has put together a phenomenal set of activities that increase understanding of gender-diverse people’s history and bodies, and teach the much-needed real-world skills of how to answer other people’s questions about your gender. I am thrilled to have this in my clinical toolbox to recommend to families for years to come.”
—Colt Keo-Meier, PhD, child/family clinical psychologist, expert in gender health private practice, and University of Houston psychology department lecturer

Colt Keo-Meier

Comprehensive and relatable, this workbook is a much-needed, invaluable tool for gender-expansive kids and those who are seeking to understand them! Kelly is the perfect person to write such a book, and she brings her signature compassion, empowerment, support, and strength to every page. The first of its kind for younger gender-expansive kids, this workbook will help them understand and communicate their uniquely personal experience of gender. Here’s to the opening of hearts and important conversations!”
—Darlene Tando, LCSW, has a private practice in San Diego, CA; has been working with gender-expansive and transgender youth/adults since 2006; and is author of the book The Conscious Parent’s Guide to Gender Identity

Darlene Tando

The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is the first of its kind to offer immediate support for kids exploring their gender. Written in a clear and concise manner, this book takes young readers on a journey of information and celebration about their authentic selves.”
—Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD, specialist in the care of gender-diverse children, adolescents, and young adults; and medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Johanna Olson-Kennedy

Kelly Storck’s The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids is comprehensive—if you’ve thought about it, you’ll likely find it in this book. Concepts are explained clearly, and with sensitivity, insight, caring, and compassion. Storck offers sage advice and support—it feels as if she is right there with you. This book is a valuable resource to go back to frequently on the gender journey of self-discovery, deeply affirming of the uniqueness and worth of every person.”
—Stephen M. Rosenthal, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); cofounder and medical director of the UCSF Child and Adolescent Gender Center; immediate past president of the Pediatric Endocrine Society; and vice president of the Endocrine Society

Stephen M. Rosenthal

There are so many ways for kids to travel this path, and Kelly Storck offers a road map that makes the journey joyful. With compassion and humor, The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids lets little ones lead the way.”
—Brook Pessin-Whedbee, author of Who Are You?

Brook Pessin-Whedbee

04/01/2018
K-Gr 4—Written by a clinical social worker specializing in gender nonconforming youth, this comprehensive guide helps children and families explore, understand, and affirm gender identities. This workbook is designed to allow kids to read, write, and draw about themselves, either with a parent or on their own. The thorough text defines terms in context and in a glossary, discusses gender diversity internationally and through history, and includes brief biographies of children who identify in a variety of ways. Through activities, readers can write about their pronouns, pick out clothes and hairstyles that best fit them, explore their feelings about their bodies, draw self-portraits, fill out a birth certificate, and list what changes they may like to make in their lives. Information is also presented on adult helpers (therapists, parents, and school staff), being safe and comfortable at school, and how to handle questions with example answers. This valuable resource clearly explains concepts and is full of activities that are fun and illuminating. Storck constantly reinforces the ideas that gender is expansive and identities are limitless, that any identity on the gender spectrum is valid and should be affirmed, and that children should feel loved, supported, and safe as they explore their identities. Working through this book with an adult would be useful, as the reading level may be much higher than that of the readers, though the text is aimed at young children. VERDICT A sensitive and empowering exploration of identity and expression that both educates and celebrates. Collections will strongly want to consider.—Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

School Library Journal