Hi Friends,
When you’re my age, you suddenly realize that your Facebook feed has gone from crazy photos of ruckus parties to pictures of weddings, expanding bellies and happy announcements about the birth or adoption of a brand new kiddo.
I’m not interested in having kids myself, but I take my duties as friend/family of people with kids very seriously. Mostly when it comes to books.
I have a few stock favorites: Amazing Grace, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Paper Bag Princess, and then there are the LGBT-inclusive books. Far more prolific than when I was young, these books celebrate a diversity of families and consciously represent characters I would have been excited to read about as a kiddo.
A year or so ago I was babysitting for one of my favorite little people and when story time rolled around I noticed Heather Has Two Mommies on her shelf. I’d never read the book, but knew it was one of the very first (if not the first) children’s book to depict lesbian parents. “Let’s read this one!” I, (perhaps a little too enthusiastically) suggested. The kiddo, (who happened to have two mommies) looked at the book, back at me and reluctantly brought it over to the pile. Turns out the book itself, while SO important and revolutionary in 1989, now reads as not all that well suited to a 5-year-old attention span. Thankfully, over the years, our options have grown and diversified like crazy. So the next time you’re looking for a good read for your little ones or looking for a killer baby shower gift, here are a few suggestions:
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen. This book made me happy, because I went into it assuming that when the main character (a young girl guinea pig/hamster/adorable rodent of indeterminable species) proclaims she doesn’t want her uncle Bobby to get married, it’s because he is getting married to another boy guinea pig/hamster/adorable rodent in a tux. As the story unfolds however, it turns out that she could care less about the gender of her uncle-to-be, so long as her uncle Bobby doesn’t forget about her in the process. It’s a very sweet way to introduce loving gay characters, without making a big deal out of the gayness of it all.
10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert, illustrations by Rex Ray. While the ending of this book felt a little unsatisfying, the use of proper pronouns and gendered terminology when describing the main character of Bailey who, in spite of what his parents and siblings say is not a boy, made me giddy. It’s an awesome way to not only make gender non-conforming kids feel like they aren’t alone, it’s also a really great way to start a conversation about gender and pronouns with a younger person (heck, I know of a few adults who could do well with that conversation too).
Antonio’s Card or La Tatjeta de Antonio by Rigoberto Gonzalez with illustrations by Cecilia Conception Alvarez. The plot of this book is very similar to aforementioned Heather Has Two Mommies and Molly’s Family by Nancy Garden, but it’s the only one to be written in both English and Spanish while featuring main characters who are people of color. It also deals with gender presentation in a way that Heather Has Two Mommies and Molly’s Family don’t get into quite so much.
King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. I loved the illustrations in this book as well as the fanciful language and tone. The tone gets slightly questionable when dealing with the one mentioned princess of color, but otherwise this book is one of the more engaging and unique of the bunch, and the detailed illustrations bode well for multiple readings.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell illustrated by Henry Cole. I’m a sucker for stories about animals and the fact that this story is true makes it even better. You’ve probably heard of the two male Central Park penguins who, after an extended courtship followed by some non-productive rock-sitting, were eventually given an egg to hatch and a baby penguin to raise. It’s an undeniably adorable story and a nice representation of queerness as it exists outside of the human species.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf with drawings by Robert Lawson. Okay, so this book isn’t explicitly about a gay character, but it IS about a bull who rejects the violent, rowdy behavior of his fellow bulls in favor of sitting under a tree and smelling flowers…so….yeah. I actually grew up with this book and while I was underwhelmed with the black and white drawings when I was younger, the amazing illustrations have inspired more than one Ferdinand-themed Christmas present for my siblings.
Equally noteworthy is the fact that there are also a number of books that briefly mention LGBT families or depict them in their (usually incredibly diverse) illustrations. These books include:
The Family Book and It’s Okay to be Different, both by Todd Parr. These colorful, wacky books hold similar messages that you can probably deduce from their simple titles. In these books, people are green, blue, orange, hairless, have antennae and take baths with mac and cheese. In the grand scope of things, having two mommies or daddies seems fairly tame in comparison.
All Families Are Special by Norma Simon with illustrations by Teresa Flavin. This was the only LGBT-inclusive book I could find featuring an African-American protagonist (who, incidentally, doesn’t have gay parents, but goes to school with kids who do). If anyone knows of any others, please share them below!
Who’s in a Family? By Robert Skutch with illustrations by Laura Neinhaus. Though the book oddly excludes kids who were adopted/are in foster care, the overall message is that both humans and animals have lots of different kinds of families. Including LGBT ones.
Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers with illustration by Marla Frazee. The only board book of the bunch, Everywhere Babies kind of made me wish there was an equally affirming book called Everywhere Adults. From the get go, this book represents and encourages diversity and individuality. The final sentence of the book (spoiler alert!) pretty much says it all. “Every day, everywhere, babies are loved- for trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful…just as they are!”
What other LGBT-inclusive kids books do you know/like/buy for the kiddos in your life?? Let us know @TheWriteTeach – and use the hashtag – #QueeringYourBookshelf.
Live, Love, Learn,
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