This rhyming poem from parent to child is a rare title that may specifically appeal to LGBTQ families of faith. The book gently raises some big questions:
How did we get here?
Who made the earth grand?
Were humans haphazard
Or something preplanned?
The narrator parent doesn’t know all the answers, but tells the child that there is still meaning to be found in the world and a “Love” in the universe, noting, “Some call it religion,/faith, or divine/a God from above/as eternal as time.” People around the world find different ways to connect with this Love, the parent continues, including through prayer.
Whether life brings tough days or joyous ones, the Love will be there, the parent reassures the child, telling them that the Love they give will find its way back to them—a call to be kind and giving to others. The Love links us all, the book says, and the parent asserts their ongoing love for the child.
As the poem by alt-Christian singer-songwriter and author Grace Semler Baldridge plays out, warm illustrations by Fran Alvarez show a two-mom family (or mom and nonbinary parent family; one could see it either way) spending a day in the woods, interacting with nature and the other people they encounter. It’s unclear which of the two parents is addressing the child, but that doesn’t really matter; different families can read it as they wish.
Although Baldridge is the child of an Episcopal priest, she takes a wide and non-denominational approach; she explains in an afterward that she has become “a faithfully skeptical person” who remains curious about the divine. (As someone who is Jewish, I think the book’s approach is broad enough to appeal to Jewish families as well; I can’t speak for other faiths, though I think the possibility is there, too.) When Baldridge became a parent, she explains in an Author’s Note, she wondered, “How can I explain God in a way that isn’t traumatizing but is potentially even reassuring?” For LGBTQ parents and other adults who may be more likely than others to have experienced trauma in conjunction with religion, that feels particularly important. Not that all LGBTQ parents will find meaning in faith, but for those who do, or who simply want to explore it with their children, this book is a much-needed and therefore recommended resource.
One mother is White; the other parent has tan skin and dark brown hair; the child has lighter tan skin and dark brown hair.
