Schools have formed a common setting for LGBTQ-inclusive picture books for more than 40 years! Here are some titles both new and old, perfect for back-to-school time and throughout the school year!
Many of these books are set on a first day of school. Some are simply joyous, affirming tales; others look at bullying or questioning of families or identities, but all are ultimately about kids learning to be proud and confident in themselves and/or their families.
(These are all books with connections to schools—but there are also plenty of LGBTQ-inclusive picture books that have nothing to do with schools that still make great reading for classrooms or school libraries! Check out the full Database of LGBTQ Family Books to see what’s new!)
Click images for details and reviews.
Newer Titles
Three Classics
The three books below prove that diverse family forms and expressions of gender in children’s books have a long history. The queerness may not be as clearly stated as in later titles, but I see these books as definitively part of the spectrum of picture books under a broadly queer umbrella. (I could also have included Heather Has Two Mommies, since it was originally published in 1989 and is certainly a classic—but its 2015 edition with updated text and images made it contemporary again, so I’ve listed it above.)
(1979) One of the earliest picture books to feature a boy who could be read as queer and “didn’t like to do things that boys are supposed to do.” The protagonist prefers to draw, dress up, and dance rather than do sports, even though the other boys tease him. Eventually, though, his courage and tap-dancing performance win over his classmates. The book was based on the childhood experiences of author Tomie dePaola, who was gay.
(1979) A classic that still holds up today. After a boy wears a skirt to his day care and some kids make negative remarks, the teacher guides the class through a supportive discussion.
(1983) A girl named Emily wakes up excited for her first day of school and for breakfast with her entire household, which includes her mother and three other women who help parent her. Although some of the other students don’t believe her when she talks about having “lots of mommies,” they eventually realize that she does. It is unclear what the relationship of the women is to each other; there is no indication whether any or all of them are romantic partners, but they are living cooperatively together. And while none of the women are definitively queer, queerness seems likely, especially since author Jane Severance, a lesbian herself, also wrote the first clearly LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ book in English, When Megan Went Away (1979).
