Title |
Author |
Age Group |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
| 123 A Family Counting Book | Bobbie Combs, Danamarie Hosler | |
| ABC A Family Alphabet Book | Bobbie Combs, Desiree Keane | |
| All Families are Different | Sol Gordon, Vivien Cohen | |
| Daddy's Roommate | Michael Willhoite | |
| Heather Has Two Mommies | Leslea Newman, Diana Souza | |
| Jack & Jim | Kitty Crowther | |
| King & King | Linda De Haan, Stern Nijland | |
| My Two Uncles | Judith Vigna | |
| Who's in a Family | Robert Skutch, Laura Nienhaus | |
An excerpt from GLSEN's "Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books With Gay and Lesbian Characters Resources for Early Childhood Educators and Parents"
Teachers and parents now have available to them a number of books written for children which include lesbian or gay parents either as their major plot or as a side plot. These books, published in the early 1980s and through the present include:
Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin (1983) When Megan Went Away (1983) Heather Has Two Mommies (1989) Asha's Mums (1990) Families: A Celebration of Diversity, Committment and Love (1990) Daddy's Roommate (1990) The Generous Bartleby Jones (1991) How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay (1991) A Beach Party With Alexis: A Coloring Book (1991) Belinda's Boquet (1991) Gloria Goes to Gay Pride 1991) The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans (1991) Families: A Coloring Book (1991) A Boy's Best Friend (1992) The Daddy Machine (1992) The Day They Put a Tax on Rainbows and Other Stories (1992) The Entertainer (1992) Saturday is Pattyday (1993) Two Moms (1993) The Zark and Me (1993) Uncle What-Is-It Is Coming to Visit (1993) One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads (1994) Anna-Day and the O-Ring (1994).
Reviews of these books, plus others reviewed earlier[1] and reviews of two books, Martin's Father published in 1977 and Lots of Mommies, published in 1983 -- which are not explicitly about gay or lesbian characters but which contain material that can be related to these themes -- will be included here. It should be noted that the 26 books to be reviewed were chosen for their emphasis on gay- and lesbian-headed families, their explicit or implicit depiction of gay or lesbian parents not gay or lesbian youth, and their appropriateness for children between the ages of two and 10. Many of the books have been published by Alyson Publications, a company which has been publishing and distributing literature for children, youths, and adults such as fiction, poetry, picture books and other genres.
Of the 26 books, one story can be used to imply a single gay father, one family book to imply a lesbian-headed family and another book to imply both a single gay- and a single lesbian-headed household. Eleven stories explicitly depict lesbian-headed families, five explicitly include gay male-headed households and four books show both lesbian- and gay-headed families. The collection of fairy tales includes, as background information to the various central themes, gay- and lesbian-headed families. One book (LOTS OF MOMMIES) includes a commune of women with no indication of the relationship among them...