The Little Boy Book (childrens` book when you need

a special story
about Daddy
by Grandma & Mummy
© Copyright E Kelly & E Webster 2003 All Rights Reserved
FTM Australia PO Box 488 Glebe NSW 2037 Australia
All proceeds from the sale of this book donated to FTM Australia
ISBN 978-1-4116-7863-7
NOTE FOR PARENTS & CARERS
Thank you for your interest in “The Little Boy”.
The production of this book has been very much a family affair. Conceptualised by my mother and broadly telling
the story of my husband’s life, it was written for our children. It never occurred to us not to tell the children about
their father’s transsexual history, in fact our aim is for them to grow up not remembering a time when they didn’t
know. We also hope they will appreciate the fact that transsexualism is merely a variation in the way people may
develop, and not something to be afraid or ashamed of.
Like most children ours love books, and bedtime stories are a well-established ritual. Introducing our children to
transsexualism in this context has encouraged relaxed discussion and questions. Small children tend to have
short attention spans (as you probably know!) and may become forgetful or confused. For these reasons we have
found the book needs to be read and discussed more than once.
In the book we have touched upon the origins of transsexualism, though nobody knows exactly what causes it. It
is certainly a treatable physical condition, not a psychological one. It is thought likely that during the early stages
of foetal development, for some unknown reason, parts of the brain develop in a pattern opposite to the rest of
the body, and that once this has happened it cannot be reversed. “The Little Boy” supports this generally accepted
theory, which corresponds with my husband’s consistent male sense of self dating back to his earliest memories.
“The Little Boy” portrays one person’s experience of transsexualism. Experiences vary. Generally speaking, people
who have transsexualism wish to live and be perceived by their society according to the sex they know themselves
to be, rather than the sex they were assumed to be at birth. The combination of medical, social and legal steps,
which unify mind, body and public presentation, is known as transition. Again, transition is an individual process
and the outcome depicted in this book is just one person’s experience.
We hope you and your family enjoy this book and find it helpful.
Elizabeth Webster
Once upon a time a baby was born in a hospital.
The tiny baby looked like a little girl.
“You have a baby girl” said the doctor
to the baby’s Mummy and Daddy.
“A little baby girl” said the Mummy and Daddy happily.
They gave the baby a girl’s name. But do you know what?
The baby was really a little boy!
He was too small to tell them so nobody knew.
This little boy was really very special.
While he was growing inside his mummy’s tummy, getting ready to
be born, something unusual happened.
Sometimes things get a little bit mixed up
while babies are growing.
Sometimes a baby girl will grow to look like a baby boy,
or a baby boy will grow to look like a baby girl.
That’s what happened with this special baby!
The Mummy and Daddy didn’t know about the mix-up.
Nobody knew.
The Mummy and Daddy treated the baby like a little girl.
They dressed him in pretty dresses.
They gave him dollies to play with.
The Grandmas and Granddads and Aunties and Uncles all came to
visit the baby. “What a lovely name! What a pretty dress!
What a beautiful baby girl!” they all said.
But the baby was a boy!
As soon as he was old enough he tried to explain
but none of them knew.
The baby grew bigger.
He did not like his dolls. He would not play with them.
“Yuck, yuck, YUCK!” he said,
and off he would go to dig in the sandpit with the boys
from next door.
He wanted to play with cars and trucks and tractors
and bulldozers.
He liked to build things. He liked to pretend he was a
speedway driver.
He tried to make them understand, but nobody knew.
Every year the little boy had a birthday. He would not wear the frilly
party dress or the big red ribbon in his hair.
“Yuck, yuck, YUCK!” he said, and wore jeans and a t-shirt instead.
Every year he blew out the candles and made a wish.
He always wished for the same thing.
That next morning when he woke up,
everyone would know he was a boy.
But his wish did not come true, nobody knew.
He played with his cousins. His sisters played dolls and tea parties
with the girls. “Yuck, yuck, YUCK!” he thought.
He played footy with the boys.
The boys teased the girls. He teased the girls too.
He went to school. He wasn’t happy there. He wanted to play footy
and cricket and soccer with the other boys, because deep inside,
where all his thoughts and feelings were, he was a boy too.
“GO AWAY!” shouted the boys. “You’re a GIRL!”
But he WAS a boy, if only they knew.
Finally the little boy grew up.
He read a big book. “Go and see a special doctor” said the book.
So he did. He went to see a special doctor.
He told the doctor how he’d always felt. And the doctor knew!
“Yes” said the doctor. “You are a boy.
If you take some special medicine, you will look like a boy too.”
He had always been a boy. He was a man now.
AND AT LAST EVERYBODY KNEW!
The End
The Authors – E Kelly is a retired primary school teacher and the mother-in-law of a man who has
transsexualism. E Webster is her daughter. The pair co-wrote this book for their children/grandchildren
as a tool to help explain their father’s history.
For information about transsexualism contact FTM Australia
PO Box 488, Glebe NSW 2037 Australia
[email protected]
www.ftmaustralia.org