Book Review: Pride

Pride by Eric Huang, with illustrations by Amy Phelps, is a sweet introduction to Pride celebrations aimed at kids ages 5 to 7 (or kindergarten through second grade).

The story is narrated by Brian, a little boy who is getting ready to celebrate Pride with his dads. He and his friends at school are learning about Pride, and their teacher weaves in LGBTQ+ historical figures throughout the year. (he book mentions Freddy Mercury, Alexander the Great, Josephine Baker and Gus Kenworthy. I didn’t know that last one but he’s a British-American freestyle skier.

The kids make posters for Pride in class and kids go to different events such as a Pride event at a museum, a crafting day where they make bracelets and a drag queen story time at the library. As they go through the events different kids decide how they want to dress for Pride, but Brian has a hard time deciding.

His dads tell him: “it doesn’t matter what you wear…what’s important is that you’re at the parade to show your support — and have fun.”

But when they are making colorful flags for the parade Brian is inspired to make outfits that reflect the beautiful rainbow of chosen family that is what Pride is all about.

The illustrations are colorful and inclusive, with lots of skin tones, fashion styles and family structures represented. The message of love and joy comes through as well as the reminder that Pride isn’t just a weekend or even a whole month, but something to celebrate all year.

The back of the book includes factual information about Stonewall (which it calls a protest and an uprising but doesn’t get into the details), other protests for LGBTQIA+ equality (and what the acronym means), the history of Pride and when it is celebrated in different places around the world, information on LGBTQ+ History Month (which is in October) and the history of and meaning behind the Pride flags.

Crafts include making a Pride flag out of construction paper and baking rainbow cookies. There’s even a quiz at the back to test what you’ve learned.

Pride is a great book for kids whose families celebrate Pride or include LGBTQ+ members, or to help answer questions about what Pride is and why it is celebrated. It would be a good one to have at home or in the classroom.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2025 by words & pictures. Suggested retail price $14.99.

In our continuing exploration of lesser known holidays, let’s take a look at Terry Fox Day, which is probably one you know if you’re Canadian.

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who had a leg amputated at age 18 because of cancer and then did a cross-country run to raise awareness and funding for cancer research. He was born July 28, 1958, and the first Monday in August is celebrated as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba.

Fox is considered a kind of folk hero in Canada despite the difficulties of traveling across Canada on foot (no one on his team spoke French, for example, the weather was often bad and cars would force him off the road) and the low number of donations at the beginning of his run. He ultimately had to end his run after 143 days and 3,339 miles, or 5,373 km, because his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs, but he raised $1.7 million, and a telethon a week after he ended his run raised $10.5 million.

Check out some Terry Fox quotes collected by My Little Desire. You can learn more in this video from CBC Kids, and listen to the Terry Fox song illustrated by a first grade class.

Twinkl has a bunch of Terry Fox related activities in both English and French, including an activity pack with a maze and word search, a coring challenge, a fact sheet and coloring page.

Most of the resources I could find were at Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can learn more about the activity pack for grades 1-3 that Mrs. Bremer’s Class has made, which tells his story and has kids write things they learned and discuss why they think he is a hero.

Creative Classroom Core has a few paid resources include writing activities, reading comprehension and a Terry Fox fact book.

That Fun Reading Teacher has a K-2 singalong with a differentiated reader and activity to teach kids about him.

You can also celebrate Terry Fox Day by talking about what makes a person a hero and who the kids in your home or classroom think of as heroes. And if you’re Canadian, there are Terry Fox runs in more than 650 communities in September, so you can make plans to participate or cheer on the runners to remember his legacy.

Have you read?

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