Abigail Favale has just released two children’s books, both called Here I Am — one version is for girls and the other is for boys. Favale’s name is well-known to Register readers not only from her columns here, but also from her books Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion and The Genesis of Gender. When I received these children’s books, I read them both in just a few minutes, and then I spent the rest of the day appreciating how profound these little books really are.

I don’t think I can, or at least should, review Here I Am without referencing Favale’s The Genesis of Gender. Because it seems that Here I Am is an expression of how to counteract — at a very young age — the carcinogenic influences she so insightfully describes in that book.

Favale makes the case in The Genesis of Gender that we are living in a world infected by “postmodernism,” which she defines as “a worldview that sees reality in terms of narratives that are created by human beings, rather than an order of objective truths that can be discovered by human beings.” Postmodernism manifests itself in many ways, but it is loudest in matters of gender ideology.

Favale identifies and objects to what she calls a “gender paradigm.” She writes, “The gender paradigm affirms a radically constructivist view of reality, then reifies it as truth, demanding that others assent to its veracity and adopt its language.”

In some respects, that is not new. The same could be said, for instance, of the French Revolution, which changed not only the dictionary, but also catechesis and the calendar. Perhaps all revolutions adopt a nomenclature to which one must subscribe. But outside of such heresies as Albigensianism and Manichaeanism, it is difficult to find a popular revolution against one’s own body. Yet, that is what gender ideology is about today.

Favale continues, “According to the gender paradigm, there is no creator, and so we are free to create ourselves. The body is an object with no intrinsic meaning; we give it whatever meaning we want, using technology to undo what is perceived to be ‘natural’. We do not receive meaning from God or our bodies or the world — we impose it. What we take to be ‘real’ is merely a linguistic construct; ergo we should consciously wield language to conjure the reality we want. To be free is to transgress limits continually, to unfetter the will. ‘Woman’ and ‘man’ are language-based identities that can be inhabited by anyone. Because truth is just a story we tell ourselves, all self-told stories are true.”

How do we parents raise children in such an environment? As Our Lord said, though we Christians cannot be “of the world,” we are nevertheless “in the world.” What do we do? The counter to lies, as it has been since the very beginning, is truth. And for parents, our duty is to preemptively counter those lies at a very young age.

And that is where Here I Am comes in. It’s not easy in a small children’s book to refute postmodernist gender ideology, express Eucharistic theology, maintain a pro-life philosophy, and affirm God’s loving design for the creation of our bodies; yet that is exactly what Favale and her gifted illustrator, Anna Abramskaya, have beautifully accomplished.

The principles are so basic that even a 2-year-old will not only understand them, but appreciate them. Clearly, it is not the 2-year-olds that are the obstacles to truth in this world; indeed, we need more 2-year-olds. The obstacles are the 22-year-olds who have spent their whole academic lives being indoctrinated into gender ideology. Though we all must live in an age of postmodern influence, this book will help establish a happy philosophical underpinning against that pressure. 

As a father of nine, I would confidently guess that parents will read this book to their toddler sons and daughters not just once, but hundreds of times. And each time they read the book together, they will be nourishing some essential truths — and joys — together.