Some children spend a while working out who they are, and they do it best with a story in their lap and you right there beside them. These are sixteen gentle picture books for exactly that. Some are about a child who loves sparkles or a dress, some about a child who's neither a boy nor a girl, and some about one who simply knows and needs the world to catch up. Pick the one that fits your child tonight.
What holds these together is how quietly they work. Not one of them lectures. They just put a child at the center who knows something true about themselves, and let you feel for that child until the ending sets it right. Some do it with a crayon or a made-up creature, some with a real family, but every one lands in the same warm place: you're fine exactly as you are.