Prolific and honored children’s book author and illustrator Tomie dePaola died today at age 85 after complications following a fall. Among his many works, DePaola, who was gay, wrote 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 book was based on his own childhood experiences.
Ellen DeGeneres and Harvey Milk are the subjects of two new board books offering the youngest children simple biographies of LGBTQ heroes. But are they really simple enough for the board-book age range?
An updated and expanded edition of a Stonewall Honor-winning book for middle-graders on Pride and the LGBTQ-rights movement is just the thing for anyone wanting to bring some queerness into their COVID-19 homeschooling—but it’s also bound to be a much-read volume for years to come.
Snap’s town has a witch. “She fed her eye to the devil. She eats roadkill and casts spells with the bones,” or so the rumor goes. But when Snap is forced to seek her help, she discovers there’s more to the witch, Jacks, than first appears, in a new queer-inclusive middle-grade graphic novel from one of the creators of the lauded Lumberjanes comics.
There are many kids’ activity lists going around right now as we all stay home to slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)—but here’s one especially for LGBTQ families and friends, with queer-inclusive virtual storytimes, coloring pages, games, videos, and more.
Many of us will be home with our kids for a while as our world tries to contain the Coronavirus. I thought this would be a good time to recap some of the recent queer and queer-ish kids’ books I’ve reviewed, to help keep kids entertained as we cope with this shift in our lives.
A moving new picture book, whose theme is nothing less than the circle of life, is also a quietly queer-inclusive tale.
A new picture book celebrates and affirms brown children’s varied cultural and geographic origins, interests, talents, physical appearances, and relationships—and it’s inclusive of creative gender expressions as well.
An exquisite new picture book about making a best friend is sure to find a treasured place on many bookshelves.
Yesterday was the annual Jazz & Friends National Day of School and Community Readings, organized by HRC’s Welcoming Schools program. Watch Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), the first lesbian mom elected to Congress, and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), a strong LGBTQ ally, read two great children’s books on gender identity on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives!
