Flamingo Rampant micropress is back with a new Kickstarter for its fourth season of feminist, racially diverse, and LGBTQ-positive children’s books! This new set of #OwnVoices books includes their first middle grade titles as well as picture books. As always, they depict an array of intersectional identities that few (if any!) other publishers have matched—all with fun, joyous storylines that include Afro-futurism, seahorse dads, baseball, magic, body hair, pancakes, and more!
The theme for the new season of books is “Adventure.” Here are the book descriptions from the project’s Kickstarter page (though they caution that it’s possible some things could change):
- Noodin’s Perfect Day (PB), written by Ansley Simpson and illustrated by Rhael McGregor. Noodin, a nonbinary urban Indigenous kid, doesn’t have the day they planned with a book and Ninaatig (a maple tree)—but they have a lot of fun anyway!
- The Magic Shell (PB), written by Jillian Christmas and illustrated by Diana G. A. Mungaray. When Pigeon Pea asks one question too many, her auntie gives her a magic cowrie shell that lets her time travel back and meet her ancestors, including some pre-colonial gender transcenders.
- The Light Of You (PB), written by Trystan Reese and Biff Chaplow, illustrated by Van Binfa. A family-building story featuring adoption and a seahorse papa (a trans man birth parent), told through a poem—with space for you to add your own family stanzas! [Mombian’s note: This is not just what I believe is the first picture book about a pregnant trans dad and one of few about trans parents overall, but also one of very few with LGBTQ parents of any identity that shows a child getting a sibling. (I can think of only one other, an older self-published work.)]
- It’s A Hit! (MG), written by Arin Cole Barth and Marika Barth. A story of baseball and friendship, where a nerdy, newly-out trans boy and the super-jock son of two queer parents form a lasting friendship.
- Metatron’s Children (MG), written by Chy Ryan Spain and illustrator TBD. An Afro-Futurist tale set in a dystopian future, in which two Black, nonbinary children unlock a secret that might just save the world.
- Puberty: Pick Your Path! (MG) written by Dr. Sydney Tam, MD, CCFP and Rakiyah Jones, DNP, FNP-BC, illustrated by Bishakh Som and kd diamond. This groundbreaking book introduces young people to the process of puberty, allowing any kid to learn about the changes that may come. The book describes many options for trans and nonbinary kids to explore—for the first time ever—possible routes and options through puberty and into adulthood, with age-appropriate illustrations and diagrams throughout. Kids can feel a sense of agency about their puberty experience, learn about their friends’ experiences, and explore differences as well as commonalities—everyone makes a stop at Body Hair Station.
It will take money, though, to bring these books to our shelves. If your financial situation allows, I hope you’ll consider supporting the project. Note that you can choose to receive all six books, just the picture books, or just the middle grade ones. (Pro tip: If your kids are still in the picture book age range, get the full set. They’ll be ready for the middle grade ones before you know it. Or if they’re older, get the full set and offer the picture books to a friend, library, or school.) The books are estimated to ship in September 2021.
Want to know more? Check out the promotional video, in which the authors and Flamingo Rampant Chief Flamingo S. Bear Bergman tell you more about these stories:
