(Originally published in Bay Windows, December 11, 2008.) LGBT parents or our kids on your holiday list? For the most part, mainstream gift guides will work just fine. Not everything we own has to be rainbow colored, and our kids already have three “I love my mommies” t-shirts each. If you do want something with […]
J. K. Rowling is no fool. She’s releasing the latest book in the Harry Potter universe, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, today, just in time for the holidays. Yeah, I’m a sucker and I’m going to buy it. The book purports to be the collection of five tales mentioned in Harry Potter and the
The guinea pigs have had the spotlight this year, as picture book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding has faced several attempted challenges from library patrons who wanted to remove or reshelve it. The penguins of And Tango Makes Three are not out of danger yet, however, as a school board meeting in Ankeny, Iowa made clear. Cindy
There’s more going on right now than just the presidential election and Halloween. Here are a few stories: First, score one for the penguins: Library trustees in Calvert County, Maryland, voted unanimously to keep And Tango Makes Three in the children’s section of county libraries, along with other picture books, despite an official complaint that
Sometimes the headlines write themselves. Conservative writer and DC resident Margaret Hemenway is appalled that her child’s female first-grade teacher read Uncle Bobby’s Wedding to the class as a way to help the class understand that she (the teacher) was marrying another woman. Not only that, but Hemenway then goes on to tie 60’s radical
The 2008 Cybil nominees are here! Never heard of them? They bill themselves as “the premier Web awards for children’s literature,” and since they’ve been around for three years now, they have some claim to the title. The books are nominated by the public, and a panel of literary bloggers chooses the finalists. Several LGBT-themed
Shifting from political discussion to something more fun: let’s have a giveaway. While at BlogHer Boston Saturday, I picked up some books from Hooked on Phonics, one of the conference sponsors. The Hooked on Phonics company has been around for over 20 years now. They’ve expanded their range beyond phonics, and now offer learning aids
After refusing to rule on a case involving a sperm donor who claimed parental rights, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a second rejection this week that means good news for LGBT families.
(Here’s a longer piece on Banned Books Week I wrote for Bay Windows, October 1, 2008. Seemed a good way to end the week.) This week marks the 27th annual Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s celebration of the freedom to read. LGBT-inclusive children’s books have long been on the ALA’s list of works
Helen and I celebrate a Banned Books Week full of fur and feathers. We discuss several LGBT-inclusive children’s books as well as an earlier work that was banned for supposedly promoting interracial marriage. We also point out the opportunity parents are missing by avoiding difficult topics with their children, and explain how we are helping
