A primary school teacher has revealed how she was inspired to write a series of books for younger children on diversity – after her own child came out as trans.
When Nick Rolfe, from Lutterworth in Leicestershire, discovered that her 13-year-old teenager Charlie wanted to identify as female, she was immediately supportive but struggled to explain to her young daughter, five-year-old Tabitha, why her sibling was transitioning.
Charlie, who now lives as a girl and has been greatly supported by her friends and school, first told Rolfe how she was feeling in August 2016.
Nick Rolfe, a primary school teacher of 21 years, says she was ‘completely shocked’ when her daughter Charlie, 14, told her last summer that she identified as female
Meet Mustard and Custard! When Rolfe found it difficult to explain to her youngest daughter, Tabitha, five, what Charlie was going through, she realised there were no books that might help to explain
A pair of lesbian kittens are among the characters who feature in the series of seven books
While it was a complete shock for the mother-of-two, she immediately supported her daughter’s decision.
She says: ‘In my heart of hearts, I know this is Charlie, she’s not going to change. Charlie is Charlie and now her outside matches her inside.’
However, when it came to explaining the situation to Charlie’s five-year-old sister Tabitha, Rolfe says she knew as a primary school teacher of 21 years that there was no literature that could help the youngster understand the situation easily.
Rolfe explains: ‘When Charlie was presenting as a boy, she was always very feminine and liked girls toys and chose girls’ programmes to watch on the telly.
‘I just thought she’d end up being gay – it hadn’t even crossed my mind that she might be trans.
‘She knew she was different but I don’t think she knew what it was. I think she just became aware of the world around her and thought “that’s me'”.
‘The 2.4 family isn’t that common’: Rolfe says she wanted to help children recognise themselves and their families in the books
Character Fred the cat is a feline that’s born female but wants to be male
The books are published on December 11th and include resources for primary school teachers
It was the moment Rolfe sat down with Tabitha and tried to explain what her older sibling was going through that proved the inspiration for the series of seven books entitled Rainbow Street.
She says: ‘I was trying to explain to my five-year-old what was happening with her sister. I’ve been teaching for nearly 22 years and I knew there wasn’t anything out there so I decided to make my own stories up
‘There are so many families that have diverse situations and little ones can’t recognise themselves in books.’
Rolfe began creating characters – all animals – including a gay couple called Mustard and Custard, a pair of lesbian kittens and a trans cat called Fred.
She illustrated them using cloth-cut outs and sent them away to a series of publishers. Diversity-friendly publisher Your Stories Matter, which aims to break down barriers in the classroom, snapped them up and they’ll be published on December 11th.
Resources free for teachers. Rolfe describes the stories as ‘gentle’, explaining: ‘I don’t mention the word transgender or gay or lesbian.
‘I would like children to recognise themselves and people in their community.
‘The 2.4 family just isn’t common anymore.’
The Rainbow Street series is out on December 11th