LIGER INBETWEEN
Liger Inbetween is set in a world of tigers and lions.
Liger represents kids that don't quite fit in with typical binaries.
They're in-between.
This is Liger.
Liger isn't a tiger or a lion.
It's Not Fair
Illustrated picture book
Liger learns to process and overcome jealousy in a world not built for them.
They also learn how to apologise and move forward after lashing out.
It's Not Fair is currently in development.
It's Not Fair can be a resource for when a child has lashed out about not getting to take from others.
Talking points:
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What does jealousy feel like? Do you feel it in your head or chest?
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What does jealousy sound like? 'It's not fair.' 'They don't deserve it.' 'Why don't I get that.'
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What can you do when you start to feel jealous?
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What does a good apology sound like?
Highs and Lows
Animated short - proof of concept
Liger can represent 'inbetween' genders.
Liger feels left out of both binary groups and struggles with being pushed into boxes that don't feel right.
When meeting someone else who doesn't fit in, Liger learns that there's positives to being different too.
Highs and Lows is intended as a resource for nonbinary kids and as an introduction to gender identity in a classroom or home.
For this story, tigers and lions can symbolise girls and boys.
Talking points:
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Do you feel comfortable with your gender and how others talk about you?
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Would me to call you he, she, they or something else?
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What are the rules that make up the girl and boy boxes?
Why Liger?
Growing up in-between identities and never really seeing characters I could relate to, I felt like I was inventing a new way to exist.
I didn't have a way to explain how I felt different so I know that I could have used Liger when I was younger.
Never seeing ‘someone like me’ can make you feel:
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Alone and alien
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Lost and impossible to understand
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Distrustful of your sense of self
Liger Inbetween is a metaphor for being outsider of binaries.
The real world is made up of rules to box people in...
Some people find it easy and comfortable to stay inside their boxes.
Other people don't. For some, fitting into the binaries takes effort and can be painful.
Those people had to change themselves to survive. Chopping down their personality and crushing their feelings to fit into the box decided for them.
No one should have to change themselves to be accepted.
They should be allowed to exist, to be seen, to be themselves.
Using Liger as a tool when working with children.
Liger can serve as a platform to help a child explain their experience as an outsider. What Liger represents is adaptable to a child's struggles.
Liger can be a resource for:
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Mental health, LGBTQ+, school counselling
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Child psychology and therapy services
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Parents and guardians
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Classrooms
Media & Testimonials
"Hartley Chng introduced Liger, an animated character who lives halfway between a tiger and a lion. Liger speaks directly to children who don’t see themselves reflected in traditional binaries, whether racial, gendered or cultural.
As a gentle guide who is also 'in between,' Liger opens up new possibilities for how children can understand identity, belonging and difference."