Diversity in Children’s Literature: The Pride Month Edition
The generally white, always heterosexual parents of my favorite children’s books as a kid are a stark contrast (at least in terms of sexuality) to the world I was brought up in.
However, while same-sex couples I grew up around never stood out as different to me, it was still incredibly difficult for non-heterosexual friends of mine, raised in that same community, to explore and express their personal feelings, and issues of intersexuality and transsexuality were never discussed (or shown on the pages of my books).
In fact, I vividly remember reading Middlesex as a (maybe) 14 year old and being kind of mind-blown by the idea that a person could have their gender “assigned” by parents and a surgeon.
The kids I work with are 0 – 5, and they are the primary target for the children’s book market. I am slightly horrified that over 25 years after I was a kid reading and loving picture books, the market is still drowned in books that perpetuate white, heterosexual, middle class life as the norm.
Girls are given sparkly dresses and tons of toys, boys play with dinosaurs and trucks. Schools have small class sizes and kind, considerate teachers who have time and energy to give individualized attention to each kid, parents are always a (married) mother and father, with the occasional single parent thrown in and whether or not mothers have a job outside the home, they always seem to have endless time to help their kids create Halloween costumes (don’t even get me started on book trick-or-treating!) or make lemonade for picnic stands. Stereotypical gender norms are upheld and heterosexuality is the norm.
Please don’t get me wrong – some of what I listed above is desirable, and I think it is great that kids, especially those in dire situations, learn how the world can and should treat them with kindness, love and respect. For a kid from an abusive family, seeing good parents on the page might be what helps them understand that their reality is not normal, and that is important.
However, our typical children’s classics to not serve kids who grow in up same sex households. They do not serve kids who are born knowing the gender they appear to be is not who they truly are and they do not serve kids who want to grow up to fix machines but also love dancing in swirling dresses. They simply do not give these kids the validation and understanding of themselves that they deserve.
Our classics also do not serve kids who do identify with your societal gender norms. Kids can be cruel and if they don’t see a certain way of being in the world around them, or in the books and TV they watch, they will treat it is different. We are training these children through the media we give them to respond to variations in sexuality and gender choice as “different” when we could be creating allies.
If you have gotten this far, I would like to introduce you to a few of the books I have discovered in my quest to find books that speak to every kid’s experiences. I will also say – I am aware of a lot of books out there that speak abstractly about “differences”, but I am not as interested in these. I feel like, especially at a young age, kids need to see these things laid out concretely in real world examples, and these are the books that I am the most interested in.
I know I am missing some, so if you have any amazing books to share in the comments below, please do!
Picture Books
Julián is a Mermaid written and illustrated by Jessica Love: A young Hispanic boy who lives with his grandma dresses us like the mermaids he sees out and about.
From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea by Kai Cheng Thom, illustrated by Kai Yun Ching and Wai-Yant Li: A magical shape-shifting child goes to school and struggles to figure out how to be themselves. Uses they/them pronouns.
Jacob’s New Dress (and Jacob’s Room to Choose) by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, illustrated by Chris Case: Jacob loves wearing dresses but gets teased by the kids in his class. He convinces his parents to let him wear a dress to school and shows everyone that boys can wear dresses and still be good at games!
Rosie Revere Engineer (and related series) by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts: These STEM inspired books show little girls exploring traditionally male career paths such as engineering, science and architecture. See below for the companion middle grade books.
The Boy & The Bindi by Vivek Shraya, illustrated by Rajni Perera: A small boy explores the power of wearing a bindi, a traditionally female Hindu tradition, with his mother.
Daddy, Papa and Me and Mommy, Mama and Me by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Carol Thompson: In each of these books, a toddler spends a normal day with their parents in a book that works to normalize same-sex parents.
Lesléa Newman is also the author of Heather Has Two Mommies, Donovan’s Big Day, Sparkle Boy and A Fire Engine For Ruthie, all of which also challenge norms surrounding gender and sexuality.
They She He Me, Free to Be! by Maya & Matthew Gonzales: This book deals specifically with the many ways we use pronouns to address each other and explores multiple gender choices through a variety of pronouns not usually seen in children’s literature.
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding written and illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen: Chloe worries that she will no longer be her uncle’s favorite when he marries his boyfriend. Tells a same sex tale in a no nonsense, matter of fact way.
ABC A Family Alphabet Book by Bobbie Combs, illustrated by Desiree & Brian Rappa: This ABC book reflects a variety of interracial and LBGTQIA+ families going about their daily lives
10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert, illustrated by Rex Ray: A book about a little boy who dreams up beautiful dresses and finds a way to start creating them in reality.
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas: Based on the experiences of Jazz, this book is about the story of a young transgender girl whose family and doctors help her realize what is going on.
Molly’s Family by Nancy Garden, illustrated by Sharon Wooding: A little girl draws a picture of her two mothers at school, only to discover that this makes her different from everyone else.
King & King by Stern Nijland, illustrated by Linda de Haan (followed by King & King & Family): After being informed he must marry by the end of the summer, and having no interest in princesses, Prince Bertie meets his perfect match in a boy named Lee.
In Our Mothers’ House written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco: A heartwarming story about a family of two moms that loves each-other and celebrated family despite the judgement of others.
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer, illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown: Stella brings her two dad’s to her Mother’s Day celebration at school.
The Different Dragon by Jennifer Bryan, illustrated by Danamarle Hosler: A bedtime story about a boy and one of his moms weaving a nighttime tale of a dragon that addresses same sex parenting as a normal part of life.
This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Kristyna Litten: This book gives kids some history of the LBGTQIA+ movement thourgh depictions of Pride Parades and gives parents age appropriate tools to talk to their kids about these things.
Middle Grade
Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters: The Questioneers by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts (series) (6 – 9 years): Rosie and her friends help her grandmother Rose, a WW2 fighter pilot solve an engineering problem.
Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (8 – 12 years): Melly loves playing the drums and dreams of becoming a rock & roll star someday. When she goes to music camp, she finds herself falling for another girl.
George by Alex Gino (8 – 12 years): George knows she is a girl even if she looks like a boy so she comes up with a plan to try out for Charlotte in the school’s production of Charlotte’s Web.
Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill(9 – 12 years): Princess Amira rescues Princess Sadie and they embark on an adventure to find “happily ever after”. But “happily ever after” might be closer than they think.
The Best Man by Richard Peck (9 – 12 years): Aimed at young boys, this is a story of small-town life, gay marriage, and everyday heroes as a young boy named Archie navigates entering middle school.
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy (The Family Fletcher series) (9 – 12 years): This series is about the adventures and experiences of the Fletcher boys and their two dads.
The Pants Project by Cat Clarke (9-13 years): Liv was born a girl but knows that he is really a transgender boy. When his school institutes a policy requiring all girls to wear pants, he must fight for the right to be himself.
The Misfits by James Howe (series) (10 – 14 years): A group of young kids who struggle to fit in in their small school decide to run for student council and advocate for themselves.
