Happy Nonbinary Parents Day to nonbinary parents and your families! Celebrate with these picture books featuring nonbinary parents (or other close relatives), a beautiful lullaby about nonbinary parents, and insights from nonbinary parents about what their kids call them.
Nonbinary Parent Picture Books
Here are some of my favorite books that feature nonbinary parents (or other close relatives like grandparents and parents’ siblings, who sometimes play a parental-type role). I’m taking a broad view here in order to be as inclusive as possible; note that some characters’ identities are not specified but could be easily read as nonbinary. I recognize that different folks may have different definitions of nonbinary, too; my intent here is not to dictate, but rather to offer a selection from which you can choose what resonates for you and fits your perspective and needs.
You can always visit my Database of LGBTQ Family Books and filter by the Nonbinary/genderqueer parent/adult(s) tag (with or without an age category) for additional books with non-parental nonbinary adult characters and to see what’s new.
Click images for reviews!
A Lullaby Celebrating Nonbinary Parents
The song “Moppa,” by the trans-led Ants on a Log, simply overflows with love and affirmation. It’s from their album Rainbow Seekers, which is packed full of queer joy.
Nonbinary Parent Names
Back in 2011, I launched the Mombian LGBTQ Parental Names Project to collect answers from LGBTQ parents to the question, “What do your kids call you?” There are now more than 400 responses, many from nonbinary parents who have shared the personal, creative parental titles that they (or their kids!) have chosen for themselves.
They include Parent!, Maddy, Ren (from “paRENt”), Baba, Nomie (nonbinary + mommy), Pare, Otter, Mapa, Sasa, treea, Poppy, Adi, Nibi, tuiste, Baba Pear, and Mr. Mom, as well as Dada, Mama, Abba, and other titles that may have traditional gender associations but were chosen by nonbinary parents because they felt right for them.
I’ve summarized many of the nonbinary parent names here, and there are further roundups of the responses (nonbinary and otherwise) here and here, with links in those posts to the full spreadsheet, should you wish to browse further. Please also add your own parental names and name stories (whether you’re nonbinary or not) so this becomes an even better resource!
Bonus tip: The picture book Just Like My Family and the song “Moppa,” above, also highlight and celebrate a range of nonbinary parental names!
Continuing to Celebrate LGBTQ Families
I hope that all nonbinary parents have a splendid day today! I also hope that all LGBTQ parents, people with LGBTQ parents, anyone else with LGBTQ people in their family, and allies join in on Monday, June 2, 2025, the first weekday of Pride, for the 20th Annual LGBTQ Families Day. Stay tuned for more details soon!