It’s one of my favorite days of the year! The American Library Association has given its 2019 Stonewall Awards and several other key awards to some of the best LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and young adult books out there—and announced the top picks from its 2019 Rainbow Book List of librarian-recommended, LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and YA titles.
It’s the 5th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Here are a few of my picks that emphasize the “multi” in “multicultural”—books that are both LGBTQ inclusive and diverse in other ways.
When I first read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women as a child, I identified most with tomboy Jo, as did many a fledgling queer girl, I imagine. Now, a new graphic novel reimagines the four March sisters as a modern, multiracial family—and yes (spoiler alert), Jo is gay.
Here’s a helpful and thought-provoking read to start your week: a piece on how to make children’s books, even when not originally LGBTQ inclusive, more inclusive of queer families and diverse parental names.
Looking for LGBTQ-inclusive Christmas books to read with your children? There aren’t many, but they do exist. Check them out (and learn why we still need more)!
Marlon Bundo, “the Bunny of the United States” who made headlines when he starred in a book by Charlotte Pence, daughter of Vice President Mike Pence, and in an alternative story produced by comedian John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, in which he marries his boyfriend, will be back next year in two more books.
Flamingo Rampant micropress is getting ready to launch its third season of “feminist, racially diverse, LGBTQ positive children’s books”! I’ve always loved their joyous approach to inclusivity, and their next set of books looks sure to continue that tradition.
It’s time for my annual roundup of some of this year’s best LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and middle-grade books and magazine! It was a banner year for such books in many ways, with a high overall volume and a surge in the often neglected middle-grade range.
A new service, launched today by a queer mom and activist, offers subscribers a quarterly, curated selection of children’s books, chosen to include characters who are LGBTQ+, feminist, of various races and ethnicities, and of other under-represented identities. In doing so, it also hopes to show publishers there’s an ongoing market for such stories.
LGBTQ History Month offers us a wonderful opportunity each October to look at the growing number of books for children and youth on LGBTQ history—including several that are new this year.
