2019 Holiday Gift Guide to LGBTQ Children’s Books
It’s time for my annual gift guide to some of the year’s best LGBTQ-inclusive children’s picture and middle-grade books—more than three dozen of them!
Books for Kids
“You Began as a Wish” Picture Book Explains Assisted Reproduction to Children
Kim Bergman wrote her new children’s picture book about assisted reproduction based on “what I’ve been telling parents for 30 years to tell their kids. It’s what I told my own kids.”
School Officials Confirm LGBTQ Content Led to Cancellation of Author Talk
Last week, I reported that author Robin Stevenson said school officials cancelled a talk she was scheduled to give at an elementary school in Illinois because her latest book profiled Harvey Milk, among other famous activists. It seems a parent did complain about Milk—but the school was also concerned about the inclusion of Janet Mock, who is transgender.
In New Picture Book, a Hawaiian Child Finds a Place Between Boy and Girl
A new picture book is based on the true story of Ho‘onani Kamai, an eleven-year-old Native Hawaiian who feels an identity in-between a boy and a girl. When Ho’onani’s school decides that the boys will perform a traditional hula chant, Ho’onani wants to join them, and must find physical and emotional strength to do so.
Another LGBTQ Author Uninvited from School Book Talk
Just days after author Robin Stevenson said she was uninvited from a recent school talk because her newest book discusses Harvey Milk, Lesléa Newman, author of the classic Heather Has Two Mommies, writes that she was uninvited from a visit to two different schools because of her LGBTQ-inclusive books.
Illinois School District Cancels Author Talk Because Her Book Mentions Harvey Milk
An Illinois school district canceled an author’s visit to an elementary school to talk about her new book on the childhoods of 16 famous activists (among them Martin Luther King, Jr. and Alexander Hamilton), because a parent complained that one of the activists included was Harvey Milk, says the author.
Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown Pens “Perfectly Designed” New Kids’ Book
Karamo Brown, star of Netflix’s Queer Eye and father of two, has written a sweet, queer-inclusive children’s book with his son that celebrates the love between a father and child.
Books for Children and Adults About LGBTQ Adoptive Families
November is National Adoption Month, so let’s kick it off with a look at some of the books for children and adults—storybooks, memoirs, and social science studies—that feature LGBTQ adoptive families.
Croatian LGBTQ Families Group Launching 2nd Picture Book
Building on the success of their first picture book for and about children with same-sex parents, Rainbow Families Croatia (Dugine obitelji) is crowdfunding a second book that they hope to provide free to “every interested person, family, and organization.”
A Dog with Two Dads Gets a New Sibling in Charming Picture Book
An adorable French bulldog named Pickles lives contentedly with his human papas—until one day, when they bring home another puppy to be his sibling. Can Pickles adapt to sharing his papas and his home?