There are no real surprises on the pages of The Rainbow Sheep by David Hayward (recently published in May 2026, read via an online reader copy). But that does not matter. It is just a nice book with fun illustrations that tells you “Be the Rainbow Sheep.” Or the purple sheep, or the blue and pink sheep, or the black sheep, or the white sheep. 
If you have been online the last few years, you have probably seen Jesus holding one of the rainbow sheep. And in that same line, we have the sheep being the leader of love and acceptance and not bringing religion into the flock. But the LGBTQ is obvious with indicators of the trans and rainbow flags. No, you won’t be shocked or amazed, but you might just have a tear in your eye (and it won’t be allergies). 
Hayward (you can visit his website) is known for their hard-hitting cartoons about spiritual abuse, the church’s exclusion of LGBTQ+ people, feminism, and faith and doubt. They use humor to make their points. And one of the points I am glad he made is the fact that there will still be the white sheep in the flock, like how they started. I love when we get all the representations and it is done in a casual, normal, fashion. 
When I was looking for other books I knew I could compare it to, Pink Is for Boys by Robb Pearlman and My Shadow is Blue by Scott Stuart came up. And though I agree, I feel Pink is for Boys and the Shadow books are aimed more at the child, and Sheep is marketed as an adult picture book. But as always, know your reader as some kids will be okay with Sheep, too.
The characters are literally sheep and therefore fits the : cbr18bingo Sheep category for Bingo.
