"Be Yourself": Little Jo

Six-year-old Little Jo is happy and he loves to play, but not in the usual boyish way. He doesn’t like bats, balls and toys on springs, but he instead prefers dolls, gowns, crowns, and plush animals with sounds. It’s difficult for Little Jo growing up in a stereotypical world where adults decide and label what constitutes a girl’s toy and what determines the appropriate toy for a little boy.

His parents try everything to get Little Jo to play with the right toys and to act the right way, but it’s his grandmother who sees Little Jo is different and unique from the rest. She gives him a present that is perfect for him.

Based on a true story, Be Yourself, by author Jo Mesiti, shows children—through words and pictures—that no matter what, it’s okay to just be yourself.