And Baby Makes Four, written by Judith Benjamin with photographic images by Judith Freedman, was published in 2009 by Motek Press. Lesbian moms and their young daughter prepare to welcome a new baby into their family. The story is told in the first-person from the point-of-view of the couple’s young […]
Amy Asks a Question… Grandma – What’s a Lesbian? (1996) was written by Jeanne Arnold and illustrated by Barbaba Lindquist, partners and co-founders of the book’s publisher, Mother Courage Press. Amy, a young girl with lesbian grandmothers, is called a lesbian at school when her and some girl friends hug […]
Published by Two Lives Publishing, The Different Dragon (2006), was written by Jennifer Bryan and illustrated by Danamarie Hosler. Hosler’s warm illustrations pair well with Bryan’s sweet story of a little boy, Noah, his sister, many pets, and two moms.
My Dad Has HIV (1996) is an accessible text about HIV told from the point-of-view of a seven-year-old child whose father has the virus. The book, published by Fairview Press, was co-written by Earl Alexander, an HIV/AIDS instructor, and two elementary school teachers, Sheila Rudin and Pam Sejkora. It is […]
Hi everyone! I am writing a book about LGBTQ* children’s picture books that’s undercontract with the University Press of Mississippi. My focus is on post-2000 publications, but I am creating, reading, and analyzing an archive of English language books that explore LGBTQ* themes beginning with Jane Severance’s 1979 publication, When […]
Ruth Lehrer’s gritty realism is reminiscent of Dorothy Allison, as is her exploration of poverty, abuse, neglect, miraculously strong girls, and the failure and promise of family. But, Lehrer’s pace and unrelentingly complicated descriptions of young teen subjectivity set Bring Fishkill firmly within the field of YA literature. *A few […]
Big Foot and Little Foot and Axel and Beast are two new series for confident young readers comfortable with early chapter books. Both series introduce emotionally engaging boy protagonists and their beastly besties.
Written by Christine A. Emery and illustrated by Kellie R. Emery, The Black Cloud Blues does the important work of acknowledging childhood depression. In doing so it makes a valuable contribution to children’s literature. Kellie Emery’s deliberate illustrations provide access to the unnamed narrator’s feelings as he takes readers on […]
Terry Lynn Johnson’s Lost! is the first book in the Survivor Diaries series. Two recently introduced children vacationing with their families at a resort in Costa Rica get lost in the rainforest. They survive through will, wit, and a little luck. In the first chapter, one of the two protagonists, […]
Elise Gravel’s board book, You Can Be, subtly rejects gender stereotypes while introducing very young readers to a range of characteristics through images of diverse children embodying them. Steely-blue and bright-red images leap off the glossy-white background of each page. The cover features the back of a young child with […]
Raise Them Righteous 