Strong by Rob Kearney and Eric Rosswood, Illustrated by Nidhi Chanani

Rob dreams of becoming a champion strongman. He wants to flip huge tires, lug boulders, and haul trucks — and someday be the strongest man in the world! But he feels like he can’t fit in with his bright leggings, unicorn T-shirts, and rainbow-dyed hair. Will Rob find a way to step into his true self and be a champion?
With bold illustrations and an engaging, informative text, Strong introduces readers to Rob Kearney and his journey from an athletic kid trying to find his place to the world’s first openly gay professional strongman.

Growing up as a gay kid, the stereotype that gay guys were sissies who were weak was everywhere. REAL men were strong. Gay men weren’t seen as real men, and so we were supposed to be weak. The existence of a real-world gay strongman would have changed my whole outlook on what was possible.

Mind you, I probably still wouldn’t have aspired to pull a firetruck down a street, but knowing that Rob did, while loving another guy, and being his most authentic self would have shattered some of the nastiest stereotypes that I had internalized.

This book is an awesome, powerful story. I love how the issue isn’t Rob being gay, it’s his wanting to wear bright colors. Such a kid-friendly conflict! (And it’s so fun how we get a kid-sense of how much weight Rob could lift… in birthday cakes and stuffed rainbow unicorns!)

Cheers to my friend Eric Rosswood, who did a brilliant job writing the book with Rob, and to Nidhi for the empowering and joyful illustrations! And there’s lots of fun back matter, where you can learn more about Rob and his husband Joey and the strongman competition.

This is absolutely a picture book I wish had been read to me when I was a little kid!

Enjoy, and happy pride,
Lee