To celebrate Grandparents Day, here are 15 books featuring LGBTQ grandparents—plus another 15 showing grandparents supporting their LGBTQ grandchildren! They make grand reading today or any time of year.
Here’s to all of the grandparents who make our lives better!
LGBTQ Grandparents
I’ve given short blurbs for the titles from this past year and compiled cover images for previous titles. Click through on any of the images for my full reviews!
You can also always visit my Database of LGBTQ Family Books and filter by the “Grandparents (LGBTQ)” tag to see what’s new!
Grandad’s Pride, by Harry Woodgate (Little Bee). The follow-up (but standalone) book to the Stonewall Award-winning Grandad’s Camper is as warm and joyous as the first volume, as Millie finds Grandad’s old Pride flag and encourages him to launch a Pride celebration in his village. A sweet and lovely story about intergenerational wisdom and community spirit. Woodgate’s illustrations are again outstanding—vibrant and cheerful, with lots of little details for readers to discover.
Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? by Junauda Petrus, illustrated by Kristen Uroda (Dutton). This picture book in verse has its origins in the viral poem Junauda Petrus first published and performed after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. In it, she envisions a world remade, with police salaries given to grandmothers who cruise the streets in “badass” vintage automobiles, blaring “old-school jams,” offering help and hope, comfort and resilience. Two of the “grandmas” are depicted with beards, though whether this means they are trans men who transitioned late in life and retained the “grandma” appellation, nonbinary people who feel “grandma” fits them best, cisgender men who have taken on a grandmotherly role, or otherwise, is for readers to decide.
The Mossheart’s Promise, by Rebecca Mix (Balzer & Bray). Twelve-year-old Canary “Ary” Mossheart has long lived in the shadow of her Gran, whose heroic deeds have made her a hero among the fairy folk. Yet their world is slowly falling prey to a poisonous creeping mold. When Ary’s Mama takes ill and Ary sets off to find a cure, she learns things that make her doubt whether her Gran’s heroic exploits were really that heroic after all—but does she really know the whole story? A truly excellent and original story, blending plenty of action with themes of personal growth, communal responsibility, and what it really means to be a hero.
Matteo, by Michael Leali (HarperCollins). Michael Leali (The Civil War of Amos Abernathy) weaves a delightful tale of magical realism, influenced by the story of Pinocchio but not bound to it. It’s a coming-of-age tale that gently but thoughtfully explores family expectations, peer bullying, coming out, and more within an original storyline and a dash of the fantastical.
I’ll note that Amy Asks a Question, below, is a 1996 volume that feels dated now, but offers an interesting historical look at LGBTQ-inclusive books for kids, and just how long LGBTQ grandparents have appeared in them.
Grandparents Supporting an LGBTQ Grandchild
There are happily many more titles than the below, but I’m trying not to overwhelm; if you want more, type “grandmother”, “grandfather”, “grandma”, or “grandpa” in the search box of my Database to pull up other books that include grandparents.
