I’m thrilled to announce that the Mombian Database of LGBTQ Family Books now has 2,000+ entries, with LGBTQ-inclusive books for kids 0 to 12, LGBTQ parenting books, and some kids’ music and other resources. Search, filter, and read my in-depth reviews! Here’s more about the database, plus my thoughts on how censorship is impacting these titles.
What’s in the Database
About half of the items in the database are picture books (including more than 100 board books), followed by middle-grade books, books for grown-ups about LGBTQ families, and early readers/chapter books. While about 97% of the database consists of books, there is also a sprinkling of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s music albums, toys and games, and documentaries about LGBTQ families.
When I first began this blog in 2005, I could count the annual number of LGBTQ-inclusive books for ages 0 to 12 on one hand. In recent years, there have been around 200 per year (but see more about numbers below). I add all of the LGBTQ-inclusive books I know of for ages 0 to 12, barring ones of exceptionally poor quality (and ones that are not affirming of LGBTQ identities). If you are an author or publisher of any type and would like your book(s) to be considered, please contact me. (Note that 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.)
When I launched the database in January 2021, it had just over 500 items. Growth has been mostly in works published since then, although I’ve also filled in some older titles.
Not all of the items in the database are recommended; both accuracy and literary/artistic quality vary. I offer reviews to guide you, based on more than two decades of studying the genre, and I include books that I am critical of so that you will know to assess them carefully. Nevertheless, many of the titles are excellent and some are superb; others may be less stellar in some ways but still offer important representation.
The Bigger Picture
All of the children’s books in my database have been effectively banned in some states’ schools by sweeping censorship laws. (See the Movement Advancement Project’s helpful maps, on their newly revamped website, for details.) Many titles have also been banned by name. And the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor may very well lead to schools removing these books from their shelves rather than risk religious objections, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in her dissent. I hope you’ll go read my post from a few weeks ago about the latest books to top the American Library Association’s “Most Challenged” list, the current surge of book bans in the United States, and how we can all stand up against censorship.
Increasing evidence is also showing that censorship of existing books with LGBTQ and other marginalized representation is reducing the number of LGBTQ-inclusive books that publishers are willing to consider, as Surina Venkat at The Hill and Marlaina Cockcroft at School Library Journal have reported. This in turn is impacting the entire publishing and library ecosystem, as Kelly Jensen explains at Book Riot.
And yes, the number of LGBTQ-inclusive books for ages 0 to 12 that I know are being published this year is significantly less than last year. I’m not going to be more quantitative than that, for a few reasons. First, I expect I’ll fill in a few more titles that I may have missed, although I try to be as thorough as possible. Finding these books has always been hard because LGBTQ representation isn’t always clear from the cataloging information or publishers’ blurbs; I expect that publishers will be even coyer in the future. Additionally, there’s no hard and fast number of LGBTQ-inclusive titles anyway. For example, does mere mention that a character has, say, a gay uncle, count as LGBTQ representation? Or does the uncle have to be a part of the plot, and to what extent? These are open questions with no one right answer. But in general terms, I’ve seen a decline—and I think that many of the titles that have come out in the past year or so were already in the pipeline before the current federal administration further emboldened book censorship, so the decline may accelerate going forward.
Let me emphasize, though: LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books are still being published, despite the recent decline, in quantities still (for the moment) far higher than they were before 2017 or so. (I attribute that surge to post-marriage-equality enthusiasm and a publishing pipeline that can be a couple of years long.) If you haven’t seen some of the terrific titles to have come out since then, particularly in the past few years, go browse the database or read some of my blog posts on books for children or adults, which often round up related titles on various topics. There are books that explore a range of LGBTQ-related themes with insight and authenticity, as well as books where the characters’ LGBTQ identities are incidental to the stories; both are needed. There are books that hold their own against the best children’s literature out there, bar none—and there are ones with more questionable literary or artistic quality that may nevertheless speak to certain readers.
That is not to underestimate the very real danger right now to the publication and dissemination of these and similar titles, and the need for immediate action to protect them. (Again, see my earlier post.) But know that these books do exist and that new and wonderful titles are available.
Young people of all identities should see themselves and their world reflected in the books they read. I hope the children’s books in the database help you connect young readers with age-appropriate titles that resonate for them, and I hope the grown-up books help you to start and nurture your families or to support the people in your life who are starting and raising theirs.