A Mom Made A Sensitive Coloring Book To Show Her Son Even Superheroes Cry Sometimes

    They also brush their teeth while pooping. Who knew?

    Julie Kliegman
    by Julie Kliegman

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Illustrator and cartoonist Linnéa Johansson's 3-year-old son vowed to stop crying because superheroes don't cry. So she responded by making a coloring book to share with him.

    Linnéa Johansson
    Linnéa Johansson

    "I know he's a sensitive guy," she told BuzzFeed News. "I've seen him being little by little put into this gender role that is not him. He’s changing. I’m so sad to see he’s swallowing his emotions."

    The notion that boys can't be vulnerable is "bullshit," Johansson, 29, wrote on her blog.

    Linnéa Johansson / Via limpan.org

    "As a cartoonist and a big comic book fan myself, I know the superheroes are emotional and complex characters," she wrote on her blog. "The problem is that in the kids' editions, they show only aggression and violence."

    She initially made the original illustrations just with her oldest son, Caspian, but now anyone can download them here.

    Comics "teach our kids at a really young age the only emotion they’re allowed to show is anger," she told BuzzFeed News.

    Linnéa Johansson
    Linnéa Johansson

    Johansson's book shows superheroes enjoy spending quality time with their families.

    Linnéa Johansson / Via limpan.org

    And they know how to rock a dress.

    Linnéa Johansson / Via limpan.org

    Superheroes also poop. Because, you know, everyone poops.

    Linnéa Johansson / Via limpan.org

    Johansson, who is from Sweden but lives in Norway, has been seeing her work spread across Scandinavia.

    Courtesy of Linnéa Johansson

    She thinks U.S. kids in particular would benefit from seeing superheroes outside their stereotypical roles.

    Some kids are even sending her their own art.

    Courtesy of Linnéa Johannson
    Courtesy of Linnéa Johansson

    Next, Johansson plans to make powerful princess-themed drawings to give kids even more variety.

    Linnéa Johannson

    As for her son, Johansson said she thinks her comics got through to him.

    "I think I caught him in exactly the moment when he was about to close up," she said. "Hopefully I kept his door a little open."

    H/T Good