Mara and the Bad Wolf is a gender-magical fairy tale for children aged 7-10 written by gender fluid author Ké Kampeas-Rittenhouse, featuring hand-drawn color illustrations by award-winning artist Kamila Wojciechowicz-Krauze. A review in The Townships Sun called the book: “Riveting… carefully crafted and lushly illustrated… in a word: ‘genius’.”
The story focuses on the magic of self-exploration and encourages kids of all genders to trust themselves and their emotions. It features a cast of queer and gender-diverse characters, including a gender-fluid protagonist, and includes a Gender Glossary with definitions for younger or less experienced readers. The Glossary was developed from the author’s experience as an educator for a Montreal youth services organization, where they worked closely with trans and gender-diverse youth aged 12-25 and compiled and edited a 300-page peer education manual.
Blurb: “On Mara the fox’s eleventh birthday, a rebellious teenage wolf takes Mara to a mysterious island where getting lost is as easy as falling into a patch of wild mushrooms. Mara soon finds herself alone and confused, with no idea how to get back home.
Will any of the cheeky local animals help Mara find her way? Will she make it through the impossible Cave of Many Doors? And could the island be trying to tell Mara something important about herself? Sometimes, following your own path is trickier than it seems.”
The audience for this book includes readers in the 7-10 age range who enjoy beautifully illustrated magical stories and fairy tales, readers who are navigating complicated emotions and changing family dynamics, readers who are queer, trans, or gender-diverse, or uncertain about or questioning their gender, and parents and teachers looking for well-crafted, engaging stories for children featuring LGBTQ+ characters and protagonists.
Publisher: Sun Portal Media / sunportalmedia.com
Author: Ké Kampeas-Rittenhouse
Illustrator: Kamila Wojciechowicz-Krauze
Length: 48 pages / 9,000 words
Topics explored: gender diversity, gender fluidity, parental divorce, coming of age, anger, self-confidence, self trust
Includes a short Gender Glossary with definitions for younger readers
Ages: 7-10
ISBN (perfect bound softcover): 9781738078912
ISBN (ebook): 9781738078929
Townships Sun Review: https://www.sunportalmedia.com/items-1/townshipssunreview
