Bill’s New Frock by Anne Fine was published in 1989.  When Bill Simpson woke up on Monday morning, he found he was a girl. It doesn’t seem to puzzle his mother when she enters his bedroom, gives him a pink dress with shell buttons to wear, and drops it over his head! Bill’s father is late for work and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before he rushes out of the house. It’s all very confusing and mortifying to Bill.  At school nobody seems to be surprised at the change in Bill.

The blurb on the back from the Guardian says: ‘Stylishly written and thought-provoking.’

That it certainly is because Bill soon realises that girls are treated very differently from boys by the teachers and people in general, and it’s often not in a good way.

Anne Fine has won lots of awards for her children’s fiction. I think this one is probably aimed at age eight years and up. It’s a very quick read at just 89 pages and would be perfect for reading out to a class over the last few minutes of the school day, by the end of a week the book would be finished. It’s illustrated by Philippe Dupasquier.