I’m happy you’re using the Mombian Database of LGBTQ Family Books and More. Here are some helpful tips!
Filtering
Tags
Click in the Tags box to see a dropdown list of all tags. You can also just start typing in the Tags box to see if the words you’re thinking of match any tags. Choose as many tags as you want. Results will match all of the tags you have chosen—so if you choose, say, “Adoption/Fostering” and “Black protagonist/family,” you’ll get all of the books about adoption/fostering that also include a Black protagonist/family.
Categories
You can filter by broad categories of age and type of media. Choose as many categories as you want. Results will appear as long as they match any one of your selections.
Other Attributes
You can also filter by Author/creator/director, Editor, Illustrator, Publisher, and Publication Date (PubDate). Choose as many attributes as you want. Results will appear as long as they match any one of your selections.
Searching
Searching in the database search box will display:
- Categories and tags matching your search term
- Individual items matching your search term
Scroll down the list of results that appear below the search bar. Click the result you want or click “View More Results” at the bottom (if there are many results).
Clicking “View More Results” will load a page of search results. Note that if you then filter on any terms while you’re on the search results page, the filters will only operate on the items displayed in the search results, not on the whole database. If you want to filter on the whole database, click “The Mombian Database” link near the top of the page to go back to the main database page.
Please Note
Inclusion of an item in the database is not necessarily a recommendation. I’ve included some problematic items that you may come across and indicated why they may be problematic.
When looking at an individual item, click the “Additional information” tab to see Author/creator/director, Editor, Illustrator, Publisher, and Publication Date (PubDate).
While I’ve made efforts to ensure the data is accurate, I make no guarantees.
Please read this post for more on what’s in the database so far and what’s to come.
Purchasing
Each item has links to where they can be purchased at Amazon and Bookshop, when available. Many people prefer Bookshop these days, for the way that it supports independent bookshops; many LGBTQ-inclusive books, however, especially by independent creators, are only available on Amazon—and Amazon is often a little cheaper. I’ve therefore linked to both so that you can shop where it feels right to you.
Additionally, some items are available only through the creators’ websites, in which case I’ve linked to those sites instead. A few items are also available to read free online (at Open Library or elsewhere), so I’ve linked there, too, as applicable. As an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I do not earn from links to creators’ websites.
I also encourage you to ask your local library to stock these books. In other words, while I very much appreciate those of you who buy through these links and thus help to support this site, I also recognize that not everyone has the same financial means. But if searching items in this database helps you offer recommendations to your local librarians or school teachers, I’ll still be happy.