An engaging and colourful celebration of our wonderful world and everyone in it, no matter their gender, class or race!

With A for Ability, F for Feminism and L for LGBTQIA, author Chana Ginelle Ewing and illustrator Paulina Morgon, have introduced some empowering concepts perfect for some discussion starters with your little ones.

Amazing book, bright, colourful and appealing will draw the attention of everyone not just children. Full of very important lessons and messages and never talks down. Great reading to help introduce ideas and questions, should be in all pre_schools, nurseries and libraries.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I really like the concept of this book. However, it does seem more aimed at older grade school children. The explanations of some of the words were very advanced. The illustrations are bright and fun. If only the basic ABC pages are read, and the other parts saved for later, I do believe it can be adapted for younger children.

I really loved the diversity within the art style. I think this is a great representation and selection of words and definitions for children, especially young ones, as they start to hear and learn these words. The explanations were thoughtfully written and digestible for young ones. Highly recommend.

Sometimes the best intentions can go horribly awry. That's the case here, with An ABC of Equality. Intended for "the youngest of children", this is a confusing book that offers muddled definitions and paints an unrealistic vision of the world.

Starting early on, the book makes many demonstrably false statements such as:

"People who identify as women have the same rights as people who identify as men."

It goes on to become even more confusing:

"We're all human beings because of abilities like standing, talking, laughing, and pointing your finger."

Sorry, non-verbal kids in wheelchairs who were born without hands. You're not human. Or... are you?

"Even if we have different abilities, we're all human beings."

Things don't get any clearer going forward. Many of the definitions for the words seem to be rather utopian. They're the way things should be, not how they actually are. I mean, I'm not asking for a depressing alphabet book, but this just doesn't seem to reflect the reality of our world at all. I'm tempted to think that the whole book was written from a place of privilege. It's entirely possible, given the author's somewhat strange definition of "privilege":

"Privilege is when a human being receives benefits and advantages based on a category like gender or class or an ability like seeing and hearing."

Gender or class? Yes, of course gender and class come into play with privilege. But seeing and hearing? Privilege is usually talked about as something that's enjoyed by a smaller group of people. In painstakingly avoiding the words "disability" and "disabled" (they don't appear anywhere in the book), the author seems to be trying to redefine "privilege" when what she really means is "advantage".

The problems don't end there. Some definitions are really vague and/or confusing ("A value is an expression of how to live a belief.") or don't make sense at all ("A question is the opposite of a belief."). And then we get to S and T. S is for "sex". Unfortunately, "sex" gets conflated with "gender". And T is for "transgender". But then the book implies that non-binary people are transgender. Confused yet?

The icing on the cake is Z, which tries to introduce the gender-neutral pronoun "ze". To toddlers. You know, the kids who still construct sentences like, "Me want cookie." For good measure, "zir" is thrown in there, too, without any explanation.

I would never try to read this to a toddler. Older kids would probably get more out of it, but the age group who might be able to decipher the mangled word definitions would likely think this is a book for babies and avoid it. So I really don't know who this book is going to work for. As an adult, I was annoyed by all the questionable definitions and awkward phrasing. I can only imagine that children would be hopelessly confused. The intention here is good... but perhaps trying to teach these social-justice concepts to toddlers was a little too ambitious.

This was a good introductory picture book for some very difficult concepts for children to understand. I would recommend this book for 3rd grade and up as the vocabulary is fairly advanced. It is not overly wordy which is helpful in keeping kids engaged in a nonfiction book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book! So vividly illustrated and engaging for readers of all ages. The ABC of Equality covers a range of terms and gives a brief definition of these terms. Perfect for dipping in and out of but presented in a more interesting way than some encylopedia/dictionary format texts.

Definitely one to add to the class library!

There was no book like this when I was growing up. This is a modern, social justice based ABC. While its board book format makes this a book for toddlers to look at, the concepts are more sophisticated and for (slightly) older children...or the book can grow with your child. A few examples: D is for Difference, G is for Gender, P is for Privilege, etc. Each concept is explained in a positive way. The illustrations are bright, appealing and inclusive. This book is a good resource for opening discussion about how people treat one another.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

A colorful and all-embracing book that will help kids learn about the different types of people and situations they may encounter in the world. Good for discussions.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I love ABC books and books that share about the topic of equality are super important...but I think these two together are a little tough considering who the target audience would be.

Our kids are older (almost 7 & 9) and the descriptions of each letter were perfect for them, but they are beyond the age of ABC type books. I think for the audience that would be reading this (pre-k), the explanations might be a bit beyond their comprehension.

I love this idea, and this was a great conversation starter for our kids that shared these important books in a totally accessible way for elementary school-aged children...I just would have loved a different format!

An ABC of Equality is the simplest, most colourful, beautiful and straightforward book I have ever seen to explain equality. Gender, sex, race, religion, etc. It is all here and easy to understand.

This book should absolutely be a must own on any parents shelves. Not only would it teach children early about how important these words are, but it would help parents to understand better.

Ignorance, fear and learning all contribute to problems we face and create inequality. Wisdom, love and understanding are what we need for a brighter future.

I will be telling EVERYONE I know to get this book.

Huge bonus for adorable and colourful illustrations.