Love in the Wild

This board book celebrates the many types of love found in the animal kingdom—the publisher’s blurb tells us it “is based on scientists’ observations of same-sex couples, adoption, nonbinary gender expression and more.” That’s a lovely idea, but it’s impossible to tell from the illustrations what sex or gender most of the animals are, so the point doesn’t come across as strongly as it could. Still, the illustrations are beautiful and full of rainbows,  with a message of “love is love,” making this a bright addition to storytime reading, regardless. Adults might use it to launch further discussions of sex and gender, but they may need this supplemental PDF from the author and publisher which explains some of the diversity portrayed. (For slightly older kids interested in the topic of sexual and gender diversity in nature, try It’s a Wild World.)