The first book for LGBTQ families in Eastern Europe is building on the success of a January giveaway and launching an Indiegogo campaign to get the book into the hands of more children.
My Rainbow Families, by authors Ive Šegote and Maje Škvorc and illustrator Borne Nikole Žeželja, was first published in January by the NGO “Rainbow Families Croatia,” with financial support from the French Embassy in Zagreb, and offered free to the public. The first 500 copies were taken within a few days, and they received several hundred additional requests, said Filip Cesarec, who works with the organization, in an e-mail to me. Now, they have launched an Indiegogo campaign to produce more copies of the book, in Croatian and English.
The book tells the stories of Ana and Roko, who “like all the things their peers of preschool age like — sport, playing with friends, and hanging out with their parents,” the campaign website tells us. “However, they slightly differ from their peers — Ana has two dads, and Roko has two moms.” The book makes a point of noting that some people find these families “unusual,” but assures readers that this doesn’t bother the protagonists—in fact, their kindergarten teacher tells them their families are called rainbow families because “In the rainbow there is a place for every color.” See an online version in English here.
My Rainbow Families may remind readers in the U.S. of some of the very first children’s books published here about families with same-sex parents, which took the time to explain these families to readers. We may be moving away from such explanatory and issue-driven books in the U.S., but My Rainbow Families is clearly filling a need in Croatia with its supportive yet simple explanations. The creators say the book is “exceptional benefit” to children from rainbow families “because in it they can recognize themselves and their everyday life.” At the same, time, it “can help each parent in talking with their child about rainbow families and diversity in society, which are a part of our reality.”
Not everyone has responded positively to the book, however. An enlarged mock-up was burned at a local carnival in Kastela earlier this month. LGBTQ-rights groups filed a criminal complaint and Croatia’s education minister and ombudsman for children condemned the action.
This hasn’t stopped the team behind the book. “We hope that that’s only the beginning of Roko’s and Ana’s adventures,” they say. “There are other publishing projects — starting with stories for slightly older children, up to handbooks and materials about rainbow families for professional staff in schools and kindergartens…. We’re prepared to do everything to fulfill our vision — a society which respects, accepts, and celebrates all families.”
Clearly, others share that vision. Their campaign has already gained enough to fund 1000 new picture books and 1000 copies of their first coloring book. Now, they are very close (but not quite at) their goal of raising $10,000 in total, which would enable them to produce 1,000 additional copies of each book.
Learn more on their Indiegogo page about this enterprising group and their books (plus t-shirts and other fun perks).