by Shireen Lalji
illustrated by Lucy Fleming
 
“Devin was no longer a Ninja Wizard. He was a boy in a beautiful skirt standing in the middle of Nanabapa’s Big Birthday”.
 
It’s Nanabapa’s Big Birthday and Devin wants to wear the perfect party outfit. All of his family already look stylish and smart and charming. Devin tries this thing and that thing but, what really grabs his attention, is his sister’s shimmery, sparkly, midnight-hued party skirt. In it, he feels quite wonderfully himself but his sister says Nanabapa will be lost for words. And so, determined to keep his skirt on, he simply adds layer upon layer over it. Will his costume, now an interesting ninja suit/wizard cape/feather-tipped blue beret combo, hold up to an energetic stint on the dance floor…?
 
A subtle, fresh and highly endearing take on gender stereotypes, located within a loving extended South Asian family, which sets up and then deftly dismantles assumptions about where prejudice is located. ‘I like the sense that everyone is surprised by Devin’s sartorial choice but no one can quite say why- and that it only takes one person to ignore it for everyone else to be freed from their anxiety about stereotypes and move on. The message about Devin “feeling like himself” is clever as you can take it as far as you want to…Just now that skirt feels right and that’s all we need to know’ (Mark Equalities Trainer/Consultant, Letterbox Library reviewer). ‘A festive ode to identity…upbeat affirmation for any child who’s fretted about feeling different’ (Kirkus Review 6/5/25). Age 4-7, Paperback 29pp
 
Themes: Gender Equality