From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea

Especially in the media of children’s literature, there has been a resounding lack of representation for those beyond the gender binary; I know I certainly didn’t see much in terms of queer representation in my younger years, something that likely would have helped me to come to terms with my identity years earlier. Kai Cheng Thom’s book From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea, published just 5 years ago, is the first children’s book I have come across to include any character that is neither boy or girl–overall, this book paints a respectful and thoughtfully imagined picture of a child struggling with their gender identity.

Miu Lan, the main character, is born with both the sun and the moon in the sky; their identity is thus not entirely set in stone. Every night, their mother sings them a song, that despite their indecision about their identity at any point in their life, she will always love them. This manifests itself as Miu Lan expressing their gender as various animals, like a bird, fish, and dog. For young readers, this already depicts the idea of exploring or expressing one’s gender as positive and important for development. Though the interpretation of a nonbinary identity as many different animals could be seen as a stereotypical or common way to address the fluidity of gender, I feel as though it has been done remarkably well in this case.

On their first day of school, Miu Lan is clearly excited to meet other kids, but they find that they are very different to the rest of the students: they are all either boys or girls, represented by their lack of non-human characteristics such as feathers, scales, or fur, and unkind to Miu Lan. The students’ teasing continues for another day, so they feel discouraged and confused about their identity. The next day, they try to dress and act like the other students, but are still bullied for not choosing one side or the other. Despite the content of the story, it’s presented more as a judgement of the mean-spirited children than Miu Lan’s expressiveness.

The negativity of the other students frustrates Miu Lan to the point where they are no longer sure of their identity, so they run away crying to their mother, who reassures them. The next day, they come to school in their true colours–this time, the other children actually show an interest in Miu Lan’s identity, and they learn to express themselves. In a sense, the story encourages all children, regardless of their identity, to explore their gender in a way unique to themselves, and to be respectful of others in their own journeys. In terms of the language used throughout the book, there is a lot of mention of ‘boys and girls,’ though in this case it is extremely relevant to the narrative and how Miu Lan interprets their experiences at school. The language describing their journey in identity is mostly positive, excluding the comments from other students (that are implied to be hurtful anyway). Additionally, the word choice and syntax is simple enough to be engaging for children, while also sophisticated enough to educate them on a topic that they may be unfamiliar with.

On the other hand, such a laser focus on the metaphor of gender identity does result in a somewhat disconnected storyline. Between Miu Lan’s outbreak of confusion, and the next day when the other students are being kinder, there is very little reason given for the other students to change their minds; the only reason they rethink how they acted was Miu Lan’s reaction on the third day, which wasn’t even explicitly stated as the reason for their change of hearts. Personally, I would have found it more interesting if other characters had been involved in this shift, as the responsibility to change people’s minds shouldn’t be left exclusively to one child. Instead, there could have been a teacher involved, or even Miu Lan’s mother.

Having connected a lot with Miu Lan’s gender identity, I was not shocked to find that the author is trans femme. It’s clear from the tone and characterisation within the book that Miu Lan’s emotions and thought processes originated from a writer familiar with gender identity. Ultimately, the story handles gender nonconformity and fluidity in an easily digestible manner for young children, and encourages them to reflect on their own identity.