Katrina McKelvey’s Isla’s Family Tree (2020)
Isla’s Family Tree (2020), written by Katrina McKelvey and illustrated by Prue Pittock, is a warm and inviting story that manages to be both minimalist and richly specific. The red-haired […]
James LaCroce’s Chimpy Discovers His Family (2010)
James LaCroce’s self-published children’s picture book, Chimpy Discovers His Family (2010), is the story of a misfit chimp who prefers banana facials to banana fights. He meets a gay couple, […]
Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki’s The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption (2002)
The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption (2002), written by Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki and illustrated by Meilo So, is a story about international adoption that […]
Kyme and Susan Fox-Lee’s What Are Parents? (2004)
What Are Parents? (2004), written by Kyme and Susan Fox-Lee and illustrated by Randy Jennings, is one example of a surge of books featuring lesbian and gay parents that arose in the early-2000s. It is deliberate and thorough in its depiction of diverse family forms as well as religious and […]
Lesléa Newman’s Felicia’s Favorite Story (2002)
Felicia’s Favorite Story (2002), written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Adriana Romo, nestles one family’s origin story in a snapshot of their bedtime routine. At the story’s opening, two moms clean their kitchen as their daughter, Felicia, plays with a puzzle. Soon it is the little girl’s bedtime. Mama […]
Patricia Polacco’s In Our Mother’s House (2009)
In Our Mother’s House (2009) by Patricia Polacco is the story of two women who love each other and the family they create together. It’s told in the first-person by one of the couple’s three adopted children who nostalgically recollects her childhood. Polacco’s illustrations are thick with detail, and thoughtfully […]
Aldrich’s How My Family Came to Be – Daddy, Papa and Me (2003)
Published by New Family Press, How My Family Came to Be – Daddy, Papa and Me (2003) is written by Andrew R. Aldrich and illustrated by Mike Motz. Two white men adopt a black baby whose mother is described as too ill to care for him. The adoption process is […]
Stephanie Burks’ While You Were Sleeping (2004)
While You Were Sleeping, a 2004 publication by Burks Publishing/Trafford, is lyrically written by Stephanie Burks and brightly illustrated by Kelli Bienvenu. The brief book, about two moms waiting for the baby they are adopting to be born, and loving the child from the moment they meet, is a sweet […]
Raise Them Righteous 