Seven LGBTQ Pride Books for Kids

Get ready for a fun-filled month of Pride with these books to help our kids better understand what it’s all about—and the history behind it.

1. Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, by Jerome Pohlen (2015), targets children nine years old and up. It starts with Sappho, Alexander the Great, and other figures from distant history, but then focuses mostly on U.S. social and political history, with occasional mentions of a few prominent non-Americans like Alan Turing. A series of activities throughout the book, like finding songs by blues singer Gladys Bentley on YouTube, add fun and engagement.Despite the title, Pohlen is inclusive of the whole LGBT spectrum and its racial and ethnic diversity, including transgender pioneers like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnson. It is an impressive effort. Young people—and even their parents and teachers—will find Pohlen’s book informative, enjoyable, and inspiring.
2. Linus Alsenas’ 2008 Gay America: Struggle for Equality, is explicitly limited to gay men and lesbians, but worthwhile within those limits. Like all general histories, it is more wide than deep, but covers a lot, including politics, culture, relations between the LGBTQ movement and other civil rights movements, entertainment, the evolution of gay and lesbian identities, and more.
3. Older elementary school children interested in LGBTQ history should try Kari Krakow’s The Harvey Milk Story. It oversimplifies a bit, as do most history books for that age group, but conveys Milk’s significance with warmth and appreciation. While a picture book, it does mention Milk’s assassination, so parents should be prepared to address kids’ questions and concerns about that.
4. For even younger children, we turn to fiction. Stonewall Book Award winner This Day in June, by Gayle E. Pitman (2014), takes us on a joyous trip to a Pride Parade. In bouncy rhymes and energetic images, it gives us snapshots rather than a narrative storyline, but perfectly conveys the spirit of the event. We meet a diverse group of dykes on bikes, people in leather, drag queens and others of varying gender expressions, politicians, marching bands, and parents with their children. Kristyna Litten’s colorful illustrations jump and dance and swirl.
5. M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book, by Catherine Hernandez (2015), comes from Flamingo Rampant, the micro-press dedicated to producing feminist, racially diverse, LGBTQ-positive children’s books. It takes us through an alphabet of Pride-related words through the eyes of a Filipino American child, offering us another perspective on this month of celebration. It is available as part of Flamingo Rampant’s 2015 box sets of six (or eight) books—but who wouldn’t want such a set on their bookshelves, anyway?
6. Out of print, but worth finding used (or borrowing from the Open Library online), is the 1991 book Gloria Goes To Gay Pride, by Lesléa Newman, author of the classic Heather Has Two Mommies. Gloria and her two moms go to a Pride parade, where they meet other families and people from their neighborhood. Most of the spectators smile and cheer, but a few sit by a sign saying, “Gays go away.” When Gloria asks why, one of her moms explains, “Some women love women, some men love men, and some women and men love each other. That’s why we march in the parade—so everyone can have a choice.” They move on to the park to dance and have lunch. The story holds up remarkably well, despite somewhat dated illustrations and use of the term “Gay Pride” rather than the more current “LGBT Pride.”
7. [Update] Brand-new this year (and thanks to Kathy Pillsbury for alerting me to it) is Pride: Celebrating Diversity and Community, by Robin Stevenson. A lesbian mom herself, Stevenson skillfully blends a history of the event with a broader look at the struggle for LGBTQ equality both before and after, along with a look at what it means to come out, what to expect at Pride events around the world today, a glossary, and a thoughtful explanation of gender identity. Written for ages 9 to 13, the book is packed with engaging text and colorful photos.

I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.