All five shortlisted finalists for the National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature, announced today, focus on people with marginalized identities. Three of the five have queer protagonists. I’ve reviewed all three, so come and meet them again!
Chickens are inherently funny. Four hundred and fifty-six of them are hilarious. Add in their owner and his partner/husband who are trying to wrangle the pesky birds, a nonsense song that your children will love to repeat (you’ve been warned), drawings with fun details to discover, and a perfectly paced narrative, and you have all the makings of a children’s book hit.
It’s LGBTQ History Month, one of my favorite times of the year! Several new kids’ books on LGBTQ history and historical figures have come out since I last rounded them up, and a great new one is coming out shortly, so here’s a look!
It’s Banned Books Week, the annual event celebrating the freedom to read! LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books are among those most frequently banned, along with books that have themes of race and racial justice. Here are five things you can do now to celebrate and support banned books.
In the latest book of the long-running Lola Reads series, Lola is off to her first sleepover! She’s excited about spending the night with her cousin Hani and Hani’s two moms, Lola’s aunts. The fact that they’re a two-mom couple is a complete non-issue.
Any day there’s a new book by Lesléa Newman is a good day. Her latest story is a sweet bedtime poem celebrating the natural world and different types of families.
Lawrence Schimel and Elina Braslina’s two board books for toddlers, Early One Morning and Bedtime, Not Playtime, are delightful slice-of-life tales about families that just happen to have same-sex parents. Schimel’s clever networking has also made them perhaps the most-translated LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books ever and brought them to countries that have few such books already.
Tatyana McFadden last Saturday won her 20th Paralympic medal—8th gold—and set her 3rd world record! A new picture book biography traces her life from an orphanage in Russia, to being raised by two moms, to becoming “the fastest woman on Earth.”
Coming out this week and next are two picture books featuring transgender girls (one told from her sibling’s perspective), one about a kid whose mom is a transgender man, and one about a boy who wants to dance ballet!
After a year when time has seemed strangely warped, it’s hard to believe it’s back-to-school season already, but it is. To help get the school year off to an inclusive start, here are some great new picture books about gender identity. Check them out for home or school use!
