Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? Who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? For Pri, her mother’s homeland can only exist in her imagination. That is, until she find a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a place more vivid and colorful than any guidebook or Bollywood film. A tale about the hardship and self-discovery that is born from juggling two cultures and two worlds.
Pashmina
“Be who you are! Be proud of where you’re from. Be a different color. Speak your language. Wear everything you need to be you.” “Be your own family” is illustrated with a spaceship filled with individuals of different colors, genders, and species (there is a dog included), all with alien horns. A simple message is repeated with new examples on each spread. This colorful, energetic book reminds kids that their unique traits are what make them so special and encourages readers to embrace them all. See also It’s Okay to Be Different (opens in a new window)by the same author.
Be Who You Are
A joyful and thoughtful celebration of family, identity and inclusivity. Things aren’t going great for Archie Albright. His dad’s acting weird, his mum too, and all he wants is for everything to go back to normal, to three months before when his parents were happy and still lived together. When Archie sees a colorful, crumpled flyer fall out of Dad’s pocket, he thinks he may have found the answer. Only problem? The answer might just lie at the end of the rainbow, an adventure away.
Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow
Annie loves her plaid shirt and wears it everywhere. But one day her mom tells Annie that she must wear a dress to her uncle’s wedding. Annie protests, but her mom insists and buys her a fancy new dress anyway. Annie is miserable — she feels weird in dresses. Why can’t her mom understand? Then Annie has an idea. But will her mom agree? The story deals with gender identification in a positive and creative way, teaching tolerance and a celebration of differences.
Annie’s Plaid Shirt
Marmee, Meema, and the kids are just like any other family on the block. In their beautiful house, they cook dinner together, they laugh together, and they dance together. But some of the other families don’t accept them. They say they are different. How can a family have two moms and no dad? But Marmee and Meema’s house is full of love. And they teach their children that different doesn’t mean wrong. And no matter how many moms or dads they have, they are everything a family is meant to be.
In Our Mothers’ House
Meet the Fletchers. Their year will be filled with new schools, old friends, a grouchy neighbor, hungry skunks, leaking ice rinks, school plays, wet cats, and scary tales told in the dark! This is a funny and compassionate middle-grade family story featuring gay parents and interracial families that is never about either issue. See the second book in the series, The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island (opens in a new window).
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
Rhythmic text and illustrations with universal appeal show a toddler spending the day with its mommies. From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there’s no limit to what a loving family can do together. Share the loving bond between same-sex parents and their children in this hearttwearming story of family. See also Daddy, Papa, and Me (opens in a new window) by the same creators.
Mommy, Mama, and Me
Love is baking a special cake. Love is lending a helping hand. Love is reading one more book. In this exuberant board book, many different families are shown in happy activity, from an early-morning wake-up to a kiss before bed. Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this simple preschool read-aloud demonstrates that what’s most important in each family’s life is the love the family members share.
Love Makes a Family
Families with same-sex parents are celebrated in this board book that follows busy moms and their kids throughout their day — eating breakfast, going on a playdate, heading to the pool for a swim, and settling back in at night with a bedtime story and a good-night lullaby. See also My Two Dads and Me (opens in a new window) by the same creators.
My Two Moms and Me
Imagine a house with many rooms, whose walls each have a different color or wallpaper, accenting a family portrait hanging there. Moms, dads, sisters, brothers — and even Great Aunt Sue — appear in dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families! Silly animals are cleverly depicted in framed portraits, and offer a warm celebration of family love. Each portrait features a gently rhyming line: “Some children live with their father. / Some children have two mothers. /Some children are adopted. /Some have stepsisters and — brothers.”
Families, Families, Families!
Filled with saturated colors and vivid illustrations, this picture book uses rhyming couplets to convey the fun and exuberant feelings assocated with a pride parade for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and families … “Rainbow arches/Joyful marches/Motors roaring/Spirits soaring.” The diversity shown at the pride parade is realistic; both homosexual and heterosexual people, young and old, are depicted as well as individuals, couples, and families. A reading guide provides explanations for the images and text and a “Note to Parents and Caregivers” offers suggestions for talking to children about LGBT families.
This Day in June
Stella’s class is having a Mother’s Day celebration, but what’s a girl with two daddies to do? It’s not that she doesn’t have someone who helps her with her homework, or tucks her in at night. Stella has her Papa and Daddy who take care of her, and a whole gaggle of other loved ones who make her feel special and supported every day. She just doesn’t have a mom to invite to the party. Fortunately, Stella finds a unique solution to her party problem in this sweet story about love, acceptance, and the true meaning of family.
Stella Brings the Family
The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. From a very young age, Jazz knew that she had a girl’s brain in a boy’s body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn’t feel like herself in boys’ clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz tells her story in a simple, clear way for young readers, their parents, and teachers.
I Am Jazz
Ayesha is excited to attend her cousin Ritu’s wedding. She can’t wait to dance at the baraat ceremony! But not everyone is happy that Ritu is marrying her girlfriend Chandni. Some have even vowed to stop the celebrations. Will Ayesha be able to save her cousin’s big day? Centering Ayesha’s love for her cousin as much as it showcases Ritu and Chandni’s love for each other, this story celebrates the power of young voices to stand up against prejudice and bigotry.
Ritu Weds Chandni
When a boy confides in his friend about bullies saying he doesn’t have a real family, he discovers that his friend’s parents ― a mom and a dad ― and his two dads are actually very much alike. This book is a great way to gently discuss discrimination with kids. This sweet and straightforward story shows that gay families and straight families and everything in between are all different kinds of normal. What makes a family real is the love that is shared.
Love Is Love
A young girl in a penguin costume sets off to pick out some birthday hats and gets a little carried away. Harriet lives in the big city with her two dads. On the day of her birthday party, Harriet puts on her special errand-running Penguin costume, and she and her dads head to the store to pick up party supplies. But when she encounters a group of real penguins Harriet gets a little carried away, and before she realizes her mistake she’s on a hot air balloon heading to Antarctica.
Harriet Gets Carried Away
A positive and realistic story about familiy, community, and dealing with a disability, that features an elderly, interracial gay male couple. Lou spends every Saturday with Grandad and Pops. They walk to the library hand in hand, like a chain of paper dolls. But everything changes one Saturday when Pops has a fall and learns that he will need to use a wheelchair, not just for now, but for always. Lou comes up with a loving plan to help Pops cope with his new life.
A Plan for Pops
Indian American middle schooler Reha navigates growth and loss in this 1980s coming-of-age novel in verse. Thirteen-year-old Reha deals with ordinary concerns; she tries to stay true to her Indian culture while growing up with in the United States, and she grapples with a crush on a classmate. When her mother suddenly gets sick with leukemia, Reha’s ordinary everyday concerns fade away and are replaced with the belief that if she is as virtuous as possible, she will save her mother’s life.
Red, White, and Whole
Iris loves to push the elevator buttons in her apartment building, except when it’s time to share the fun with her baby brother. That is, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious new button that opens up imaginary places where she can escape and explore on her own.
Lift
Caleb Franklin and his big brother Bobby Gene are excited to have adventures in the woods behind their house. But Caleb dreams of venturing beyond their ordinary small town. Then Caleb and Bobby Gene meet new neighbor Styx Malone. Styx is sixteen and oozes cool — and he leads the brothers on a one-thing-leads-to-another adventure in which friendships are forged and loyalties are tested.
The Season of Styx Malone
Hudi’s dad is athletic, but Hudi is not. Hudi is funny and well, chunky. In this fictionalized memoir, Hudi confronts his family’s expectation, school bullies, and how to be true to his real interests. The graphic format captures the tone, tensions, and wit of the story.
Chunky
The smallest lemur in the troop is reassured by parents, siblings, grandparents, and all the lemurs that he is loved in this gently rhyming tale. Expressive illustrations combine with a surprisingly informative text to reassure family bonds as well as lemur habits.
Who Loves Little Lemur?
The simple question is addressed as flaps twice unfold to reveal different animals with their parents. Sturdy pages support lush illustrations which conclude when baby elephant is found — with mommy, of course!
Where’s Baby Elephant?
A house has windows, doors, etc. through day and night and seasons. However, it only becomes a home when a family arrives. A series of simple, straightforward questions combine with sunny, simple, elegant illustrations sure to engage even the youngest.