More and more publishers are offering young children illustrated books that trivialize surrogacy, or even gender change among minors. An assumed militancy that has the air of a pretty fairy tale.
On the eve of the start of the school year, Julie is experiencing her last day of vacation. The little girl plays and dresses up, gets lost in a dreamlike world where she is in turn an adventurer, a witch, a princess… She concocts potions, rides blue dragons. The forest around her is a sea of perfumed petals and shimmering butterflies. She has pink horns like the treetops. The colors, as much as her thoughts, swirl. Julie explores, has fun, it’s still a bit like summer, for a few hours…
This back-to-school season is a bit special for Julie because it will actually be her first time as Julie. Her friends knew her by another name – a boy’s name. So deep in the woods, Julie gives herself a mission: she’s going to bury her old name. She writes it on a piece of paper, and accompanied by her imaginary dragon friend, all blue, like the ghost of the boy she stopped being, “In the hollow of the tree, Julie leaves her previous first name, the one that wasn’t the right one.”
It is understood, Julie does not exist, she is the heroine of a children’s story by Caroline Fournier and illustrated by Laurier The Fox (My name is Julieéditions On ne compte pas pour du beurre, 2022). On the turn of a page, the narrator’s voice sums up his character’s case in a tone of evidence: “We thought Julie was a boy. Of course not!” It’s as simple as hello, simple as all the tales, simple as the big wolves who…
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