5th-6th grade Finalist in 2019 Children’s Choice Book Awards
2019 ALA GLBT Round Table Rainbow Book List
National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA)
Gilbert Baker always knew he wanted a life full of color and sparkle. In his small, gray, flat Kansas hometown, he helped his grandma sew and created his own art whenever he could. It wasn’t easy; life tried over and over again to make Gilbert conform. But his sparkle always shone through. He dreamed of someday going somewhere as vibrant and colorful as he was.
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco during the gay rights movement of the 1970s, Gilbert’s story unfolds just like the flag he created: in a riot of color, joy, and pride. Today the flag is everywhere, even in the small town where Gilbert grew up!
Includes a Reader Note that provides more in-depth discussion of the beginnings of the gay rights movement and a more detailed look into Gilbert Baker's place in our shared history.
- (
Amer Psychological Assn)
The story of Gilbert, creator of the rainbow flag which helped galvanize the gay rights movement in the 1970s and today.
- (
Amer Psychological Assn)
Presents the story of Gilbert Baker, from his childhood in a small Kansas town where he was unable to fit in, to his artistic career in San Francisco during the gay rights movement and the creation of the rainbow flag. - (Baker & Taylor)
5th-6th grade Finalist in 2019 Children’s Choice Book Awards
2019 ALA GLBT Round Table Rainbow Book List
National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA)
Gilbert loved visiting his grandmother’s clothing store. He’d sit next to her while she sewed and draw beautiful gowns and costumes. Gilbert dreamed of someday bringing these drawings to life. But one day, his father took away his art supplies and tore up his drawings. Surrounded by building blocks and Erector sets, sports gear and slingshots, Gilbert’s colorful, sparkly, glittery personality started to fade, and he, too, became gray and dull and ?at, just like the Kansas landscape. “When I grow up,” he dreamed, “I’ll go somewhere that’s ?lled with color.”
Gilbert Baker always knew he wanted a life full of color and sparkle. In his small, gray, flat Kansas hometown, he helped his grandma sew and created his own art whenever he could. It wasn’t easy; life tried over and over again to make Gilbert conform. But his sparkle always shone through. He dreamed of someday going somewhere as vibrant and colorful as he was.
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco during the gay rights movement of the 1970s, Gilbert’s story unfolds just like the flag he created: in a riot of color, joy, and pride. Today the flag is everywhere, even in the small town where Gilbert grew up!
Includes a Reader Note that provides more in-depth discussion of the beginnings of the gay rights movement and a more detailed look into Gilbert Baker's place in our shared history.
- (
Baker & Taylor)
5th-6th grade Finalist in 2019 Children’s Choice Book Awards
2019 ALA GLBT Round Table Rainbow Book List
National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA)
The story of Gilbert, creator of the rainbow flag which helped galvanize the gay rights movement in the 1970s and today.
- (
Baker & Taylor)
Gayle E. Pitman, PhD, is a professor of psychology and women's studies at Sacramento City College. Her teaching and writing focuses on gender and sexual orientation, and she has worked extensively with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. She is the author of This Day in June, When You Look Out the Window, and Sewing the Rainbow. She lives in California. Visit her at www.gaylepitman.com and follow her on Facebook: @GaylePitmanAuthor, Twitter: @GaylePitman, and Instagram: @GaylePitman.
Holly Clifton-Brown, illustrator of Sewing the Rainbow, So Many Smarts, and Move Your Mood, is an illustrator and artist based in Somerset, England. She graduated from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) in 2008, and has since published several picture books and illustrations for an array of international publishing companies and clients. Her work combines traditional painting, mixed media, and collage with contemporary techniques to create a unique and imaginative visual language. Follow her on Facebook: @HollyCliftonBrownIllustrator and on Twitter: @HollyRCB - (Amer Psychological Assn)