Two new titles this year join the list of LGBTQ-inclusive Christmas books for kids! Check out my reviews of titles both old and new as you don your … well, you know.
First, the newest books:
Joy to the World! Christmas Around the Globe, by Kate DePalma, illustrated by Sophie Fatus (Barefoot Books), shows families around the world celebrating Christmas in different ways but with a similar spirit. In this festive rhyming book that begins with an image of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem, we meet families from Columbia, India, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Ethiopia, Australia, Italy, Serbia, Argentina, Iceland, and Lebanon. Each family has its own foods and activities, but all radiate joy and love. The Canadian family has two dads, one Black and one White, along with three kids, two White and one Black. The illustrations offer plenty of fun details to pore over, and gold ink adds an extra special touch. Several pages at the end explain each country’s traditions in more detail.
Elves on the Fifth Floor, by Francesca Cavallo, illustrated by Verena Wugeditsch (Undercats), is an early chapter book that tells the story of the Greco-Aiden family—moms Isabella and Dominique, and their children Manuel, Camila, and Shonda—who have just moved to the beautiful but dull city of R. They were fleeing a faraway country that recently elected a new president who had declared that families like theirs, “ones with two moms and three kids,” were illegal. (This is never explained further, begging the question of whether a family with two moms and two kids would have been allowed.)
Isabella, a mail carrier, one day delivers a surprise letter to her own children from Santa Claus, asking for their help in wrapping presents for the children of R. Santa’s sleigh, it seems, has been getting overloaded, so he’s now picking up presents at staging points in each city before delivery. But can the Greco-Aidens wrap 230,119 Christmas presents in time, even with the 10 elves Santa has sent to help them? To make matters worse, some nosy neighbors sense something is going on at the Greco-Aidens’ house and call the police to investigate. The children and elves have disappeared, though, and the police bring the moms into the police station for not knowing where their children are. New friend Olivia then steps in to figure out what’s going on, gathering a secret team of kids to help her. Can she find the missing Greco-Aidens and help get the packages to Santa in time? And will this unfriendly community learn to interact with each other again?
The adventurous family, holiday mystery, and elven magic will likely delight young readers. Parents should be aware, though, that the family was fleeing a place where the children “would have been sent to an orphanage, and their moms to jail” simply for being a family like theirs. The family has escaped this awful land and is now safe and happy, but the idea of being sent to an orphanage because the government didn’t like your family might still scare some children, especially if they have been in foster care. Having said that, other children may not be fazed by this, or might find the family’s escape cathartic; make your own judgment about yours.
A few parts of the narration are clunky and the book could use a more thorough copyediting, but overall, this is a fun Christmas caper full of mischief and magic that ends with the requisite doses of community, family, and holiday cheer. It is the first of an intended series. One mom is White and one a person of color who could be Black or Latinx; two kids are Black or Latinx and one White. A family that has two dads is also mentioned and seen briefly.
Next, a few books published in past years that you may want to put on your Christmas reading list:
The Christmas Truck, by J. B. Blankenship and illustrated by Cassandre Bolan, shows a child (whose gender is never specified and whose wavy hair could be seen as any gender), prepare for Christmas with their papa and dad, and help find and deliver a gift to the child of a family that is not able to afford gifts. The bouncy rhymes, bright illustrations, and depiction of extended family are lovely, as is the message about giving.
Santa’s Husband, by Daniel Kibblesmith, illustrated by A. P. Quach (Harper Design), reimagines the jolly old elf as Black and married to his White husband, who helps him prepare reindeer, elves, and more for Christmas.
Rachel’s Christmas Boat, by Sophie Labelle (Flamingo Rampant), stars a child who cleverly solves the problem of changing the name on a parent’s Christmas gift after the parent comes out as transgender.
Over the River & Through the Wood: A Holiday Adventure, by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Kim Smith (Sterling), takes the concept of the classic song and gives it a new spin, showing us how various couples and their kids within an extended family creatively overcome obstacles on their way to meet at Grandma’s for the (unspecified) holidays. The bouncy rhymes are inspired by but not identical to the original poem (which was intended for Thanksgiving, though some versions include a line about Christmas). The family includes a White couple with three White kids; an interracial two-dad couple with one light- and one dark-skinned child; an interracial different-sex couple with a biracial (or possibly multiracial) boy; and a White couple with twin girls who look who look like they might be of Asian descent. It’s a fun romp showing the diversity that may be found even within one family.
For middle-grade readers, The Lotterys More or Less, by Emma Donoghue and illustrated by Caroline Hadilaksono (Arthur A. Levine Books), continues the series about two same-sex couples (one male, one female) jointly raising their seven children. Their nine-year-old middle child, Sumac, feels responsible for organizing their winter celebrations, across a variety of traditions (the parents are of Jamaican, Mohawk, Scottish, and Indian ancestry; neighbors include a Muslim and a Jewish family), but an ice storm brings complications for the diverse family and community in this fun holiday-themed romp.
While the parents’ queerness is never a focus, there are queer-positive tidbits woven in, like a reference to Pride and the mention of a family friend who uses “they” pronouns. Additionally, Sumac’s sibling Brian is gender creative. Donoghue doesn’t make this feel like a checklist of diversity categories, though, but rather an image of what life is actually like for many families and communities today, celebrating differences even while helping each other and coming together to create something more than the sum of its parts.
For LGBTQ-inclusive books for Hanukkah (which is over for this year, but it’s never too early to plan for 5783), please see this post. There are no LGBTQ-inclusive books that I know of related to Kwanzaa except for My Family! A Multi-Cultural Holiday Coloring Book for Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents, by Cheril N. Clarke and Monica Bey-Clarke (My Family Products), which includes images of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print, although you may be able to find a used copy. But if you’re looking for queer-inclusive books about other holidays, just filter my database by the “Holidays” tag.
Whatever and however you celebrate, may you have a joyous and peaceful season!
