Square Zair Pair, written by Jase Peeples, illustrated by Christine Knopp; Amazon Digital Services, $14.99 hardcover, $2.99 e-book
Originally funded by an ambitious, optimistic Kickstarter campaign in 2015, the unique, inspiring LGBT-themed children's book Square Zair Pair features a mythical land filled with a community of cute characters. It's a place where opposites attract, until two of a kind open the hearts and minds of the entire village.
This rhyming picture book is the brainchild of dual creatives: The Advocate entertainment editor Jase Peeples, and former Disney Interactive artist Christine Knopp, who successfully collaborated on this project. Through words and drawings, they aim to teach children about celebrating differences and the power and beauty of diversity in life.
Set in a mystical kingdom called Hanamandoo, the tale features the Zairs, who are both square and round creatures hatched from purple spotted eggs in a patch. Commonly, the square Zairs pair off with the round, their tails intertwine, and they cohabitate in huts in the valley of Meez. When two square Zairs appear together as a loving couple, they are mocked and scorned by the others and banished to a hilltop. Running out of food, they join their square paws together and climb the trees for berries nestled in the higher limbs, a tactic which comes in handy when the village below is crippled after a freak snowstorm.
The adorable 23-page allegory is told in Dr. Seuss-style rhyming couplets with purple-hued illustrations sure to delight children of any age, and adults, too. The inspiration for the book arose after a married gay couple remarked to Peeples about their trouble in finding good children's books with positive LGBT themes. With this colorful, enchanting fable, Peeples and Knopp have created a splendid addition to the ever-expanding bookshelf of LGBT-friendly children's titles.
Though the drawings and the story's message stress unity and embrace diversity, soon after the book's publication Peeples received a hatefully defaced page from his book along with taunting Tweets from the notoriously bullying anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church. The hate-speech clan had scheduled a protest to rally against Peeples' in-store reading at Books, Inc. on Market Street last Saturday. But, as has become typical of this faction, their bark was much bigger than their bite, and the group never appeared at the reading. Instead, according to veteran Sister of Perpetual Indulgence Sister Roma, love and peace prevailed, and about 75 pro-Zair Pair counter-protesters gathered together in support of a book Roma believes "couldn't be farther from gay propaganda." The Sister wasn't at all surprised when members from the Topeka, Kansas-based church didn't show up, noting, "They seem to think that threatening to protest is the same thing as actually protesting. We showed them what it truly means to have conviction and passion in true San Francisco style! It was a beautiful day."