ALA Booklist (Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Felix likes to wear skirts. When he asks his sister if he can wear her green dress, she tells their mom, "Felix needs his own dresses." Without a qualm, Felix's mom takes him to the department store and spite the salesclerk's scowl ys him the red pleated skirt of his dreams. Dad is not quite so sanguine when Felix asks if he can wear his new skirt on the first day of school, suggesting that his son wear trousers instead. When Felix finally does wear his skirt, the other boys, predictably, tell him he looks like a girl, and their parents whisper, "That's inappropriate." Now a sad Felix doesn't want to go back to school, until his dad has an inspiration that solves the problem and that will amuse young readers of this gentle story about a gender-nonconforming child. Felix appears to be about five in Kuprin's pretty pen-and-ink and watercolor pictures, which are a nice complement to the simple, straightforward text, which fills a need for books on gender.

Kirkus Reviews

If you didn't know by now that boys sometimes wear skirts, this picture book will explain that again.Felix likes wearing skirts. After all, "I can run faster and climb more easily." But not everyone is comfortable with his choice. The plot is so well-worn that it hardly warrants description: First he wants to wear skirts, then people are mean to him. The plodding, artless text follows Felix as he goes from victimization to grudging acceptance. "Real boys don't wear dresses. Why don't you go play with someone else…," say his classmates. And " ‘That's inappropriate,' the other parents whispered to each other. ‘What kind of parent allows his child to do something like that?' " Then his dad decides to wear a skirt, too, and Felix feels better about going back to school. The story concludes with "From that day on no one asked if he was a boy or a girl. They simply called him Felix," an apparent (and misguided) attempt at supporting a boy who seems clear enough about his gender identity. The art is strangely retro, depicting very little outside of characters' expressions of joy, sadness, or discomfort, and the text doesn't utilize structure or pacing to lend interest or artistry to the story. Felix is a white boy, as are most of the other people depicted, though one classmate wears hijab.A heavy-handed, already-dated attempt to explain a well-documented experience. (Picture book. 3-6)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

PreS-Gr 2 German author and illustrator team Brichzin and Kuprin tells a simplified gender expression story with Felix's preference for skirts over pants. His big sister is happy to trade her skirt for his black jeans, Mom takes him to the shops for the perfect red skirt, and Dad wears a skirt in solidarity when they both walk to school. Sales staff, classmates, and classmates' parents frown and disapprove, but Felix and his family persevere. Felix explains to a boy who tells him he looks funny, "'I want to wear what I like, and for me that's skirts and dresses,'" so, "From that day on no one asked if he was a boy or a girl. They simply called him Felix." Functional illustrations are line drawings with smudgy watercolors that complement the straightforward story. VERDICT This has a solid message about gender expression and acceptance. An essential purchase for libraries, especially those building their LGBTQIA+ children's collections, along with Leslea Newman's Sparkle Boy and 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert. Elaine Fultz, Madison Jr. Sr. High School, Middletown, OH