This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman

This Day in June is a book about celebrating LGBTQ pride month in June. The story begins with the start of a parade that shows falling rainbow-colored balloons and paper streamers. Community members cheer from their homes with excited smiles and encouragement for the participants. Each page represents a group of the LGBTQ community and its participants wearing and showing rainbow-colored clothing, flags, and banners. Similarly, members of the parade are shown to be dancing and jumping in celebration, with marching bands playing along.

Political representation is displayed with people holding signs that tell the public to vote and banners that refer to equality and rights. Public displays of affection like kissing and hugging are illustrated as the participants hold up signs for marriage equality. In the back of the book, a reading guide explains the parade's who, what, and why. For instance, the guide explains that pride month commemorates the Stonewall Riots that occurred on June 28, 1969, and marked the beginning of the gay liberation movement. A perfect book for an inclusive library collection that adds "diversity in a responsible manner without contributing to stereotypes about LGBT people." (Sanders, 2014)

Critical Analysis

This Day in June is a picture book with very little text throughout the illustrations but contains a wealth of information within the reading guide. The themes include LGBTQ and acceptance, while the story is rich in symbolism and inclusivity for LGBTQ members. The book's guide explains the meaning of various clothes, people, historical meanings behind symbols, recent and past political oppression, the fight for LGBTQ rights, and even the description of places like San Francisco's Castro district as the most prominent gay neighborhood in the world.

A section called a "Note to Parents and Caregivers" advises on things like talking to your children directly, promoting acceptance to reduce homophobia, or helping pave the way for children coming out. Kristyna Litten's illustrations are intensely vibrant, and the characters and buildings are highly detailed. To illustrate, the buildings, city, and people are drawn with such small and intricate details that a person can spend thirty minutes exploring one page. The various colors include contrasts between light and dark pinks, blues, reds, greens, oranges, and many other variations of colors that help bring about a powerful display of LGBTQ pride. Gayle E. Pitman teaches women's studies at Sacramento City College, where her work centers on gender and sexual orientation. Also, in 2015, she won the Stonewall Book Award and the ALA Rainbow Project Book List for This Day in June.

The book's strength is that it is a powerful tool for parents to teach about sexual identity and to be inclusive of others. Sadly, its weakness is due to a lack of a story. Readers may enjoy Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders and illustrated by Steven Salerno, which contains a similar LGBTQ theme.

References

Pitman, G. E. (2014). This Day in June. (K. Litten, Illust.) Magination Press.

Sanders, A. (2014, June 1). This Day in June. School Library Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.slj.com/review/this-day-in-june