The Mombian Database of LGBTQ Family Books, Media, and More now has more than 1000 items in it—and counting! With LGBTQ-inclusive books under increased attack, I hope this database can play a part in connecting those who need such books with the many titles that now exist.
More than half of the 1000 LGBTQ-inclusive items in the database are picture books (including board books), followed by middle-grade books, books for grown-ups about LGBTQ families, and early readers/chapter books. There are also some children’s music albums, toys and games, and a few movies for grown-ups about LGBTQ families. All are filterable by those categories and by a variety of identity and subject tags. (For what’s not in the database, see the footnote.*)
When I launched the database in January 2021, it had just over 500 items in it. The growth has been both in works published since then—well over 200—and in older works that I’ve added. The number of LGBTQ-inclusive family books, particularly picture books, has increased dramatically in recent years, and the range of LGBTQ and intersectional identities shown has also grown, though we still have far to go in some areas. We still need to see more families of color, more transgender and nonbinary parents, more children’s biographies of LGBTQ people who do not yet have biographies for that age range, and more stories where the characters’ LGBTQ identities are incidental to the tale, among other things. (We’ve seen some progress lately, but not enough.) And for goodness’ sake, we need more than one (2009) book showing a human child with LGBTQ parents getting a new human sibling, and not just a sibling analogy involving pets (as I’ve explained here).
Still, the overall quality has increased along with the volume and breadth of subjects. Consider all of the books now about pronouns, Pride, or drag queens, among specifically queer subjects, or the equally welcome others in which the characters’ queerness is incidental to the tale and not a focus of the plot. There are also now a number of good nonfiction books for kids of all ages that take an LGBTQ-inclusive look at gender, bodies, puberty, and sex ed. Look at all of the new queer parenting guides, too, or the books (mostly middle-grade) that now show “second-gen” queer kids with queer parents (because statistically, some of us are going to have them, even though it’s a myth that queer parents “make” queer kids). There are also now five dozen LGBTQ-inclusive board books for the youngest tots.
The database is not completely comprehensive; there are still many older works (especially dated and/or out-of-print ones) that I have yet to add (I’m working on it!), and I have not included all of the many self-published titles that exist. (I will include self-published books, however, if they seem of reasonable quality; if you are a self-published author and would like to be considered, please contact me.) Furthermore, not all of the items in the database are recommended; as with any genre, both accuracy and literary/artistic quality vary. I offer reviews to help guide prospective readers. Nevertheless, many are excellent and some are superb; others may be less stellar in some ways but still offer important representation. I envy the kids these days (LGBTQ and not) growing up with so much more LGBTQ representation than I (or even my son) had when we were little.
So yes, LGBTQ-inclusive books may continue to be banned in record numbers, along with books about other marginalized identities. We need to change that. (Here are some resources to help do so.) I am heartened, however, by the many new ones that continue to be published, and by the authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, teachers, and others who continue to help connect readers with them. I know that many LGBTQ parents and parents of LGBTQ children still often have difficulty finding books that represent their families; the same could be said for allied parents and others wanting to ensure LGBTQ representation in their homes and schools. I built this database for you. I hope you’ll keep coming back to see what’s new as it grows even further.
*I don’t cover young adult books since I’m only one person and need to sleep. Also, my blog is focused on parents and resources for them; older teens are usually choosing their own books. Kids’ movies/TV are a whole other adventure, and I have not yet added them—but see this post for an overview through early 2020, my Children’s films, Children’s television, and Children’s videos blog post categories, and in addition to Mombian, the Insider database of LGBTQ characters in cartoons (through June 2021), and the Wikipedia page on LGBTQ representation in children’s television (which, as with any Wikipedia article, is a good starting point, but should always be double checked).