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From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea
A children’s picture book that incorporates lush visual storytelling with poetic language to tell the tale of a magical gender variant child who brings transformation and change to the world around them with the help of their mother’s love. This unique children’s book honors timeless fairy-tale themes while challenging gender, racial, and body stereotypes.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 10, 2017
6 people are currently reading
1017 people want to read
About the author
Kai Cheng Thom
14 books912 followersKai Cheng Thom is a writer, performance artist, social worker, fierce trans femme and notorious liar who loves lipstick and superhero cartoons. A prolific essayist and poet, her work appears online in publications including BuzzFeed, xoJane, Everyday Feminism, and Autostraddle; and in print in Asian American Literary Review, Plenitude, and Matrix Magazine, among others. Her first collection of poetry, a place called No Homeland, will be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in Spring 2017. As a spoken word artist, she has appeared and featured at venues including Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She is also a mental health community worker and co-founder of the collective Monster Academy: Mental Health Skills for Montreal Youth. Kai Cheng lives in Montreal and Toronto, both of which were built on unceded Indigenous territory. Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
February 22, 2018
Gentle and imaginative watercolor art accompanies a story about a shape-shifting child who is not just gender neutral, but seemingly species neutral. This child occupies a world of child-shaped children who don't understand the child who can generate peacock feathers at will. They also make fun of the child who doesn't adhere to a strict gender binary. Eventually all the other children accept the magical child because they love themselves -- it's that easy! -- and upon acceptance all the children become magical shapeshifters too.
While I appreciate a children's book that encourages gender fluidity and identity freedom, and uses the pronoun "they" to illustrate this, equating a gender-fluid child with a creature who is so special that they are a literal magic entity goes a little too far for me.
While I appreciate a children's book that encourages gender fluidity and identity freedom, and uses the pronoun "they" to illustrate this, equating a gender-fluid child with a creature who is so special that they are a literal magic entity goes a little too far for me.
October 23, 2022
5 stars
Easily one of the best books I’ve read in 2022 (so far). A main character who isn’t labeled by gender or even species is dealing with the problem of what to do when others see you as different. They have a supportive mother who let’s them know no matter what or where they are that she will always believe and be there for them. My heart is bursting love! Add to the mix that the main character handles this challenge on their own the way they see fit is such a good lesson to showcase to kids. Even having everyone talk about their feelings is shown. Can’t say enough good things about this book.
Easily one of the best books I’ve read in 2022 (so far). A main character who isn’t labeled by gender or even species is dealing with the problem of what to do when others see you as different. They have a supportive mother who let’s them know no matter what or where they are that she will always believe and be there for them. My heart is bursting love! Add to the mix that the main character handles this challenge on their own the way they see fit is such a good lesson to showcase to kids. Even having everyone talk about their feelings is shown. Can’t say enough good things about this book.
July 11, 2018
I love everything about this. Seeing a story with a nonbinary child depicted in such a way was the absolute thing I needed today, and I think it's something everyone needs. The illustrations are beautiful, and the magical little story about being nonbinary, being yourself, supporting your family, not bullying, how to take care of yourself if you are being bullied... it's so beautiful in its own right.
I love this book so much. I read it from the library, but I look forward to grabbing my own copy as soon as I can.
I love this book so much. I read it from the library, but I look forward to grabbing my own copy as soon as I can.
July 8, 2020
A sweet story about a nonbinary child feeling confusion and upset until they are accepted for all they are by their classmates.mp beautiful, dreamy images accompany this text.
October 31, 2017
Favorite children's book of my whole collection. A non binary, shapeshifting child who wears their heart on their sleeve? Might as well have been written about me.
This book is central to my undergraduate capstone project on identity formation in children's literature. I've been so amazed by Kai Cheng Thom's poetry and performance, and I was so excited to see they had written a children's book -- just in time for my project.
As a child, I would have been so happy to see a character like this in one of my books -- a character who feels different, and who yearns to belong and be celebrated for being their whole self.
Paired with the beautiful illustrations by Wai-Yant Li and Kai Yun Ching, this is bound to be my go-to holiday present for all the kids and children's book lovers in my life.
This book is central to my undergraduate capstone project on identity formation in children's literature. I've been so amazed by Kai Cheng Thom's poetry and performance, and I was so excited to see they had written a children's book -- just in time for my project.
As a child, I would have been so happy to see a character like this in one of my books -- a character who feels different, and who yearns to belong and be celebrated for being their whole self.
Paired with the beautiful illustrations by Wai-Yant Li and Kai Yun Ching, this is bound to be my go-to holiday present for all the kids and children's book lovers in my life.
January 15, 2026
A very colorful book where a new baby could not decide upon being either boy or girl. They grew up to enter school with a loving home, but got picked on in school. The child tries different outward appearances trying to be liked, but it seems too confusing. Finally some classmates see the magic in being free.
The story is slightly overdone with Miu Lan going to school in a tiger outfit and peacock feathers. While adults my understand the symbolism being made, a child reading this book might not feel the empathy of the flamboyant Miu Lan.
4*
The story is slightly overdone with Miu Lan going to school in a tiger outfit and peacock feathers. While adults my understand the symbolism being made, a child reading this book might not feel the empathy of the flamboyant Miu Lan.
4*
January 30, 2021
I first found and read this in a bookstore in the Bay Area in 2017 and teared up in the bookstore. I bought it on the spot. A beautiful love letter to trans/nonbinary and gender-nonconforming kids :')
December 15, 2018
The best thing we can do is allow kids to be kids without any of our own preconceived notions driving their existence.
March 29, 2019
I want to give this book to every parent & child. Full of unconditional love, from mother to child and from yourself TO yourself.
November 2, 2018
This book is so wonderful in how it shows kids that it's okay to be who you are and that you don't have to conform to everyone else's idea of gender and gender roles. I love how she expresses her own story through this medium and it's great for children who are going through the same thing to see that they can be loved for who they are.
July 12, 2020
I loved this little picture book about a magical non-binary child so much, it was really cute
July 11, 2021
A very sweet short story about a shape-shifting child who doesn't want to be just one thing, but to change their form day to day to match how they feel.
April 2, 2022
Habe lange nicht mehr so ein wunderschönes Kinderbuch gelesen!
June 1, 2019
A sweet book with a timely message told in a way to reassure any child who feels different that they are loved. Beautiful illustrations.
December 15, 2019
In many ways, this is really a beautiful book. I don't see it having a lot of crowd appeal for children (it's too sappy for that), but there are definitely individual kids that would find it meaningful and affirming. I like how the child attempts all of the things children attempt when they're being bullied--and gets the same results. Trying to stand out, trying to fit in, and growing armor to try to protect yourself are all in vain. Moreover, the mother's responses are a great model for parents struggling with these issues. She doesn't make futile attempts to rescue her child or tell them that they're better than the bullies. She doesn't resort to platitudes. She simply reiterates that she loves and respects her child. In the end, that's all parents can do.
I do have a reservation, though. In general, the book does a really good job of staying true to real-life experience, but it gives that up at the end for a too-easy feel-good ending. I'm starting to feel like a broken record for putting this in so many reviews, but we don't do children any favors by giving them fantasy endings where everyone magically starts to accept the protagonist. That's not the reality children are living in. I will give the authors props for making sure Miu Lan was not accepted until they started just being themselves, regardless of the opinions of others. That is definitely how it works. But that triumph feels unearned, because it's so complete. When children learn to be unapologetically themselves, they can make friends and even avoid being bullied. But it simply doesn't happen that everyone becomes a convert and wants to play with them. As long as that's the happy ending we're giving, we're not meeting children's needs
I do have a reservation, though. In general, the book does a really good job of staying true to real-life experience, but it gives that up at the end for a too-easy feel-good ending. I'm starting to feel like a broken record for putting this in so many reviews, but we don't do children any favors by giving them fantasy endings where everyone magically starts to accept the protagonist. That's not the reality children are living in. I will give the authors props for making sure Miu Lan was not accepted until they started just being themselves, regardless of the opinions of others. That is definitely how it works. But that triumph feels unearned, because it's so complete. When children learn to be unapologetically themselves, they can make friends and even avoid being bullied. But it simply doesn't happen that everyone becomes a convert and wants to play with them. As long as that's the happy ending we're giving, we're not meeting children's needs
October 28, 2023
whatever you dream of,
I believe you can be
from the stars in the sky
to the fish in the sea...
and I'll always be here,
I'll be near, standing by
and you know that I'll love you
There are no page numbers to count the pages of this exquisite and whimsical tale of a baby who couldn't decide what to be so, with the support of their mother, tries out all the options.
a strange magical child who was always changing
they grew feathers to fly
with bluebirds in the morning
scales and a tail to swim with
fish in the afternoons,
and fur and paws to play with puppies in the evenings
This works out well until it's time to go to school, where tails and wings do not fit in. It's hard to make friends when bullied, scorned, or worse, ignored. After trying to hard to conform to playground standards, Mui Lan confides in their mother whose sage advice is the heart of this book.
It isn't easy being different than everyone else...but you can only be who you are.
Being the type of reader who, when first crushing on an author, wants to read it all, I was scarcely begun 'this place called no homeland' when I requested all that was available by KCT through the library. I was expecting another book of poetry but was not unhappy to take this home. The illustrations and the colours and the layout combine to make this trip a delight.
And it's truly refreshing to meet such an encouraging and steadfast mother who is not blamed and shamed for any aberration of the child.
I believe you can be
from the stars in the sky
to the fish in the sea...
and I'll always be here,
I'll be near, standing by
and you know that I'll love you
There are no page numbers to count the pages of this exquisite and whimsical tale of a baby who couldn't decide what to be so, with the support of their mother, tries out all the options.
a strange magical child who was always changing
they grew feathers to fly
with bluebirds in the morning
scales and a tail to swim with
fish in the afternoons,
and fur and paws to play with puppies in the evenings
This works out well until it's time to go to school, where tails and wings do not fit in. It's hard to make friends when bullied, scorned, or worse, ignored. After trying to hard to conform to playground standards, Mui Lan confides in their mother whose sage advice is the heart of this book.
It isn't easy being different than everyone else...but you can only be who you are.
Being the type of reader who, when first crushing on an author, wants to read it all, I was scarcely begun 'this place called no homeland' when I requested all that was available by KCT through the library. I was expecting another book of poetry but was not unhappy to take this home. The illustrations and the colours and the layout combine to make this trip a delight.
And it's truly refreshing to meet such an encouraging and steadfast mother who is not blamed and shamed for any aberration of the child.
September 22, 2019
I've checked this one out from my local library on more than one occasion in an attempt to determine how I feel about it. Ultimately, I've decided this book just confuses me and doesn't make me feel good. I'm gender diverse but this shape-shifting child is not something I can relate to at all and it seems too imaginative for the very literal-thinking preschoolers I know to get what this is meant to be about. I do appreciate the use of they/them pronouns throughout and that the mother loves her child regardless of who they "choose" to be that day, but I did not like that the book starts off by saying the baby couldn't "decide what to be" so they looked "very strange" as it kind of hurt my feelings. I also didn't like that the book states that a child pulled on the main character's feathers because they were jealous as that feels similar to the idea that boys pull pigtails because they "like" girls, which arguably normalizes abuse being a part of affection. In the end the main character teaches the other children "how to gallop like horses, climb like monkeys, and swim like fish" and all the children grow wings, tails, etc. I wanted to enjoy this one but I really could not and I would not recommend it, sadly.
May 9, 2018
There is a pervasive transphobic logic that suggests that 'allowing' trans people to exist peacefully will allow others to claim they are '''''actually''''' animals and other ridiculous things. It's a false equivalency mess that I don't care to go into at this point. It was and is used a lot in conversations about trans people's right to pee in public restrooms.
This book wholeheartedly ignores that mess, and I've decided that if Thom wishes to use a character who can perform fantastical shapshifts as a metaphor for existing outside the box in many ways, that's cool with me.
I also enjoy how the narrative employs the same lullaby technique as other picture books (I'll Love You Forever comes to mind).
My main critique is of the cover art. I don't know if I would have bought this book if it hadn't been recommended to me. It just doesn't represent the content of the book; I thought it was a story about a transgender sea slug (which is fine, but the book is more complex than that).
This book wholeheartedly ignores that mess, and I've decided that if Thom wishes to use a character who can perform fantastical shapshifts as a metaphor for existing outside the box in many ways, that's cool with me.
I also enjoy how the narrative employs the same lullaby technique as other picture books (I'll Love You Forever comes to mind).
My main critique is of the cover art. I don't know if I would have bought this book if it hadn't been recommended to me. It just doesn't represent the content of the book; I thought it was a story about a transgender sea slug (which is fine, but the book is more complex than that).
June 24, 2018
Breathtaking illustrations. Gorgeous words that sink deep beneath your skin. Stunningly beautiful messages.
Everyone needs to take the time to read this book - whether someone's reading out the words because their kids don't quite understand letters yet or you're making a cup of tea after work and settling in for the journey. Kids and teens and adults alike deserve to experience this and learn and grow and flourish from Kai Cheng Thom, Wai-Yant Li & Kai Yun Ching's creation.
I have no other words other than please pick up this picture book that is infinitely more complex and gentle and utterly whimsical than you could ever imagine. I promise you that you won't regret it.
Everyone needs to take the time to read this book - whether someone's reading out the words because their kids don't quite understand letters yet or you're making a cup of tea after work and settling in for the journey. Kids and teens and adults alike deserve to experience this and learn and grow and flourish from Kai Cheng Thom, Wai-Yant Li & Kai Yun Ching's creation.
I have no other words other than please pick up this picture book that is infinitely more complex and gentle and utterly whimsical than you could ever imagine. I promise you that you won't regret it.
April 5, 2021
I wanted to love this book. And I love the idea behind it. But, what got to me was when the child was called “strange” for not being a male or female. That seemed harsh, especially if a child reading this was struggling with their identity. Every child should feel beautiful and unique and I think the word “strange” left a bad connotation for people who don’t identify with a specific gender. I think it also told kids who were reading this book, who do identify as male or female, that it’s ok to call others “strange” and I don’t think that is the message the author was trying to convey. Maybe I’m over analyzing the word, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.
January 7, 2020
Un libro ilustrado precioso, que aborda la historia de un niño de género no binario: cómo se percibe, el aliento que recibe de su madre y el choque al conocer otros niños. Aunque peca de fantasiosa, creo que da un mensaje claro para los pequeños
March 5, 2020
I absolutely LOVED this!! 🌈🦚
February 4, 2022
This is an incredibly lovely book for children about identity, queerness and the power of self acceptance. I will give it to every child in my life.
September 21, 2022
The Story I Wish I Had As a Child
This story is brave, bold, beautiful and heartwarming. Alllll the stars. I loved it. It’s inspiring and encouraging for all children!!!!
This story is brave, bold, beautiful and heartwarming. Alllll the stars. I loved it. It’s inspiring and encouraging for all children!!!!
September 4, 2024
This is such a sweet and wholesome book about a nonbinary child. The way their mother supports them is just absolutely beautiful. :)
October 23, 2021
Five stars are not enough. This book should be in every parent's home.
February 9, 2022
Such a sweet story about being different & gender - I want all educators to teach with this book!
May 3, 2025
So beautiful. And such a touching balance of love and freedom with the sadness and cruelty of being misunderstood or rejected. I love that the mother has the courage to admit she doesn’t have all the answers but continues to love fiercely, and in turn teaches Miu Lan to do the same for themselves despite the worry, sadness, and uncertainty. What a wonderful book
December 11, 2022
A lovely story about a non-binary child and a mothers unconditional love. A child learns it’s ok to be who they are and other children learn about acceptance of others.
This is a picture book I read to my 3 year old grandson while visiting him. The illustrations are so lovely and the book has such a good message.
This is a picture book I read to my 3 year old grandson while visiting him. The illustrations are so lovely and the book has such a good message.
June 13, 2020
From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea is a children's picture book written by Kai Cheng Thom and illustrated by the team of Kai Yun Ching and Wai-Yant Li, which stars Miu Lan, and their quest to find their gender and identity.
June, at least in my part of the world is LGBT Pride Month, which I plan to read one children's book, which pertains to the subject everyday this month. Therefore, I thought that this book would be apropos for today.
Thom's text is rather simplistic and straightforward. It is a wonderful story about love and acceptance about a child who was born with both moon and sun in the sky and couldn't decide what they could be and told in a wonderful fairy-tale style. Ching-Li's illustrations are wonderfully done and represented the narrative extremely well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is a fantasy-inspired story of gender and identity. Miu Lan was born with both sun and moon in the sky and because of that they couldn't decide if they were a "girl or boy", "bird or fish," "cat or rabbit," "tree or star." Their identity shifts with the games they play and the time of day. Their mother constantly assures them of her love in a song repeated throughout. Of course, when Miu Lan goes to school, their classmates are not so accepting. Exclusion and mild bullying commence as Miu Lan tries to figure out how to fit in, but their mother continues to reassure them, and of course the story ends with full acceptance.
All in all, From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea is a wonderfully written book about love and acceptance and may start a conversation about nonbinary gender identities.
June, at least in my part of the world is LGBT Pride Month, which I plan to read one children's book, which pertains to the subject everyday this month. Therefore, I thought that this book would be apropos for today.
Thom's text is rather simplistic and straightforward. It is a wonderful story about love and acceptance about a child who was born with both moon and sun in the sky and couldn't decide what they could be and told in a wonderful fairy-tale style. Ching-Li's illustrations are wonderfully done and represented the narrative extremely well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is a fantasy-inspired story of gender and identity. Miu Lan was born with both sun and moon in the sky and because of that they couldn't decide if they were a "girl or boy", "bird or fish," "cat or rabbit," "tree or star." Their identity shifts with the games they play and the time of day. Their mother constantly assures them of her love in a song repeated throughout. Of course, when Miu Lan goes to school, their classmates are not so accepting. Exclusion and mild bullying commence as Miu Lan tries to figure out how to fit in, but their mother continues to reassure them, and of course the story ends with full acceptance.
All in all, From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea is a wonderfully written book about love and acceptance and may start a conversation about nonbinary gender identities.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews