What does it mean to be part of a Pride Family? This book takes young readers on a journey to find out, as it offers definitions of L, G, B, T, Q, I, and A, shows the various identities of parents and carers who can combine to form Pride Families, and indicates possible paths to family creation.
The narrative is told from the perspective of a child with two mums, but the book mentions not only two-mum and two-dad families, but also ones with a mum and a dad, one or both of whom are bisexual; with one or more trans parents; with single LGBTQIA parents; with parents who have a boyfriend or girlfriend; or with three or four parents (because of deciding to have a baby with another couple, because of step-parents, or other reasons). Nonbinary parents are noted, too, as are the many different parental names they may use.
The book also covers various ways of family formation, with a mum being pregnant, a dad being pregnant (if the dad is trans), or via adoption, fostering, or surrogacy. The child narrator explains that “to make a baby you need a sperm, and egg and a uterus,” but does not give a full explanation of what these components are or why they matter. (For that, try What Makes a Baby.) Nevertheless, we learn that the narrator’s Mum and Mãe used an unknown donor, Mum’s egg, and Mãe’s uterus to create her—a rare and welcome description of reciprocal IVF (the method my own spouse and I used) in a children’s book (although the term is not used). We also read of co-parents (who may live together or separately, and see the various options that couples and single people—male, female, and nonbinary—may use to form their families. The book importantly stresses that “Even if they don’t have a partner, they can still be lesbian, gay, or bisexual.”
A final spread acknowledges “one final kind of Pride Family, and that’s your chosen family—your friends.” That feels like an oversimplification, as not all friends are LGBTQIA, and thus wouldn’t by themselves form a “Pride Family”—not to mention that those considered “chosen family” are extra-close friends and not just casual ones. Adult readers may wish to clarify. Still, I appreciate the inclusion of chosen family here.
The book ends with a reminder that “all families are different” and “The most important thing is that every family feels welcomed and included.”
Parents and children are shown with a variety of racial/ethnic identities and physical abilities. Illustrations on each page depict a particular family and the Pride flag associated with the parent or parents’ primary queer identity (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary). Although intersex and asexual identities are defined and shown at the beginning, there are no people identified as intersex or asexual in the later pages about family types.
Backmatter includes a glossary for adults and some further notes on the difference between gender identity and sexuality, on poly relationships, and on bisexual and single visibility. It also includes some further notes about trans parents, such as why many people now use non-gendered language related to pregnancy and nursing (e.g., “chestfeeding”; “birth person”). There’s also a helpful reminder that trans parents may or may not use a parental title that aligns with their gender identity, depending on when they transitioned, what they want to be called by their child(ren), and what the children are used to calling them. The book’s U.K. origins are evident in its use of “mum” rather than “mom,” but otherwise, U.S. readers should have no problems with the vocabulary.
The text is straightforward and might be considered a little dry—but I prefer this to the approach I’ve seen in some other books, where the text has been forced into awkward rhymes in an attempt to make it more “approachable” for kids. Very often, plain but clear is best, as here. While this book doesn’t cover every type of LGBTQIA family imaginable, it covers a lot, including some family types that are often not specified and thus forgotten (like mum-dad families with one or more bi parents, who actually comprise the majority of LGBTQ parents). There’s a definite pedagogical purpose here, but the book fills that purpose well.
