For Children’s Book Week: LGBTQ-Inclusive Children’s Books of 2019 (So Far)

It’s Children’s Book Week, an annual celebration of books for children and teens that launched in 1919. Not only is 2019 a milestone anniversary for that event, however; it’s also a milestone anniversary year for queer-inclusive children’s books, too: ones for teens have been around since 1969; picture books since 1979. Let’s mark the occasion with a look at some of the LGBTQ children’s books published so far in 2019.

I’ve taken my selection only from books that have been published to date (or that will come out within a week or two)—stay tuned for more later in the year! (I’m also leaving out the many great young adult books only because the volume of queer YA literature is now happily so great that it’s impossible for me to keep up with everything. I’ll stay focused on elementary and middle grades, with occasional exceptions.)

Middle Grade

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) is a new middle-grade graphic novel retelling of the classic Little Women. This version reimagines the four March sisters as a modern, multiracial family—and yes (spoiler alert), Jo is gay. Just as Alcott’s work was an exploration of what it means to be part of a family and female, so too is this one.

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, by Gayle Pitman (Abrams) is aimed at middle schoolers and up. It is organized around 50 representative objects from the event and era, including photographs, matchbooks from gay bars, and a New York city police nightstick. Pitman weaves the stories behind these objects into a compelling narrative that feels both accessible and substantial. (I have a longer review appearing shortly; stay tuned.)

Elementary Grade

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution, by Rob Sanders (Random House), uses the perspective of the Stonewall Inn itself to tell the story of the event that energized the LGBTQ-rights movement. It is not a tale of walls and bricks, however, for the Inn’s narration focuses on the people in its neighborhood, and Jamey Christoph’s evocative illustrations capture their diversity of race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The thoughtful narration should make this an essential work of LGBTQ history for elementary school children. (I have a longer review appearing shortly; stay tuned.)

Maiden & Princess, by Daniel Haack and Isabel Galupo (Little Bee), with illustrations by Becca Human, tells of a maiden who falls in love with a princess at a multiracial royal court. This is a welcome addition to the genre of LGBTQ-inclusive fairy tales and to books about strong women in control of their lives and loves.

Jacob’s Room to Choose, by Sarah and Ian Hoffman (Magination Press), is a follow up to their 2014 Jacob’s New Dress, about a gender-creative child. When Jacob, in a dress, and his friend Sophie, in a button-down and khakis, get chased out of the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, respectively, their teacher leads the class in a discussion of gender expression. The children then decide, on their own initiative, to make new signs indicating anyone can use any bathroom. Note that in both books, Jacob seems to identify as a boy, albeit one who likes wearing dresses. That’s fine, and we certainly need books that include children like Jacob; I mention this only as a heads-up to those seeking books about children who identify as a different gender from the one they were assigned at birth. (Stay tuned for a fuller review.)

Stonewall: Our March Continues, by Olivia Higgins, illustrated by Tess Marie Vosevich Keller (self published), tells the tale of the Stonewall Uprising through the eyes of young LGBT people in the 1960s seeking community in New York City. Higgins includes a thoughtful set of discussion questions at the end for readers of various ages. Parents or teachers may need to explain, though, that there are different people telling different parts of the story—the undifferentiated first-person narrative doesn’t make that immediately clear. Young readers might also need adult guidance so they are not scared by the line, “My parents demand that I change or leave home forever.”

Preschool/Toddler/Baby

They, She, He easy as ABC, by Pura Belpré Honor Award winner Maya Gonzalez and Matthew Smith-Gonzalez, is a follow up to their 2017 They She He Me: Free to Be!, a joyous celebration of pronouns and identities. Maya Gonzalez’ dazzling illustrations also populate this new work as we meet an alphabet of friends who dance their way from A to Ze. Most are children of color, which feels needed and refreshing in a literary world that’s usually mostly White. It ends with an invitation to the reader to “Join the dance. There’s always room.”

Robin Stevenson’s Pride Colors board book (Orca Book Publishers) takes the original meanings of the colors in the Pride flag, as envisioned by creator Gilbert Baker, and turns them into a poem from parent to child.  Parents will enjoy reading Stevenson’s loving words as much as children will enjoy the uplifting statements, gentle rhythms, and bright photos.

Rainbow: A First Book of Pride, by Michael Genhard and illustrated by Anne Passchier (Magination Press), uses essentially the same concept, but in a more literal way, as we see images of what each color means. It’s a less warmly personal book than Stevenson’s, but makes a bright introduction to the colors of Pride and images of LGBTQ families.

Love Makes a Family, by Sophie Beer (Dial Books), is a cheery board book in the vein of many other children’s books that showcase a range of family diversity, but stands out for the fun, dynamic, and gently humorous illustrations. (I’m squeezing this one in even though it was published in the last week of 2018.)

My Two Moms and Me and My Two Dads and Me, by Michael Joosten, with illustrations by Izak Zenou (Doubleday), are board books that depict the everyday lives of children with two moms or two dads. While they stick with a formula used in two previous LGBTQ-inclusive board-book pairs, they are upbeat and stylish and likely to please.

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