Karamo Brown, star of Netflix’s Queer Eye and father of two, has written a sweet, queer-inclusive children’s book with his son that celebrates the love between a father and child.
I Am Perfectly Designed
, written by Brown and his grown son Jason “Rachel” Brown, is told from the perspective of a young Black boy addressing his father and reflecting on the moments and memories of their life together. “First there was you, Dad,” he says. “Then there was me. And now there is us!” The father responds with gentle words of support and encouragement, including reminders that the boy is “perfectly designed.” It is the child, however, who is leading the conversation, as we see them go about their day together. Eventually, the boy looks ahead, wondering if his dad will miss him when he grows up and goes away. “You know I will,” the dad responds. The two of them, they agree, “are perfectly designed for each other.”
The book captures universal feelings of parental-child love in simple but elegant phrases. It also does that rare thing—centers the story around everyday activities but makes it engaging, with just enough humor to make us smile and a drive helped by Anoosha Syed’s illustrations of the duo walking forward to various local spots. The cartoon-like but not cutesy illustrations reflect not only the father and son’s emotions, but also their vibrant, multicultural, and diverse neighborhood, which includes a two-mom couple, a parent with tattoos and piercings, and ones with t-shirts saying “Be Kind” and “Feminist,” as well as four men clearly intended to represent the other four Queer Eye co-hosts (though never stated as such, and subtly added in the end papers). It’s unclear if the father is a single parent or has a partner or spouse of any gender; that makes the book adaptable for many dad-headed types of families.
Brown, who had come out as gay at 16, had not realized that his last girlfriend had become pregnant with his child, Jason. Ten years later, she contacted him for child support, he told Parents.com. Brown took full custody and eventually adopted Jason and his half brother Chris, then stepped away from his television career to become a social worker and focus on his family, before returning to TV in recent years. Jason Brown is now grown and an actor, and writes in the afterward to the book that he’s always dreamed of writing a story about the lessons his dad taught him, including that “I was perfectly designed.”
Celebrity children’s books can, as a category, be hit or miss. This one’s definitely a hit.
Other LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books by celebrity authors include:
- The Adventures of Honey & Leon
, by Alan Cumming. Two dogs who are tired of being left at home follow their two (human) dads on an overseas trip. Entertaining if fluffy. The sequel, Honey & Leon Take the High Road
, is a much weaker and less cogent story; fans of the first may enjoy it, otherwise, you may wish to pass on this one.
- The Magic Misfits
, The Magic Misfits: The Second Story
, and The Magic Misfits: The Minor Third
, by Neil Patrick Harris. In this middle-grade series, an orphaned street magician teams up with five friends (one of whom has two dads) to defeat various villains. There’s an echo of Lemony Snicket here (unsurprising, since Harris starred in the television adaptation of that series), in the bumbling bad guys and clever wordplay, but without Snicket’s pall of gloom and dismay. The books are also embedded with puzzles, ciphers, and how-to pages of magic tricks. (Harris is a skilled magician and was president of the Academy of Magical Arts from 2011 to 2014.) The best part, though, is the underlying theme of knowing one can rely on friends and family.
- Freckleface Strawberry: Best Friends Forever
, by Julianne Moore. In this early reader, Freckleface Strawberry and Windy Pants Patrick are best friends despite having many differences, and learn that even though others say girls and boys can’t be friends, they can. Patrick happens to have two moms.
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