Let’s start with an updated list of LGBTQIA+ books that divided by primary, middle school and high school and is searchable by title, author, and grade level. Click here to access the list.
Family is important to all of us…
A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager
Picture Book Grade Levels: K-3
Summary:
Not only are gay children bullied, but sometimes the children of gay couples are bullied. A very easy fix occurs when kids are presented with inclusive books about all different types of parental relationships. Now if only there was a book like that… oh wait, there’s a children’s book about it!
A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager tells the story of an elementary schooler with two dads. As her peers ask her questions about which parent coaches her sports team, or which parent makes her breakfast, she answers either her Daddy, or her Poppa, in the process normalizing gay parenthood and challenging traditional gender norms in a helpful way for kids. Oelschlager has also written A Tale of Two Mommies.
Other inclusive books that encourage diverse family acceptance include:
- Love is Love: An Important LGBTQ Pride Book for Kids About Gay Parents and Diverse Families by Michael Genhart, K-3rd
- A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary, K-3rd
- I Am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde, K-3rd
- The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman, K-3rd
Acceptance by family is important……..
Other books that are helpful are:
- Coming Around: Parenting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Kids by Anne Dohrenwend
- Dignity For All: Safeguarding LGBT Students by Peter DeWill
- The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School — How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle by Barbara Colorosa
Novels with families’ response…
- Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (grandmother supports Julián’s cross dressing), K-3rd
- The Boy and the Bindi by Vivek Shraya (South Asian mother supports LGBTQIA+ son), K-3rd
- When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff (help for transgender children concerned about being an older sibling), K-3rd
- When We Love Someone We Sing to Them: Cuando Amamos Cantamos by Ernesto Martinez (father supports LGBTQIA+ son)
- Hazel’s Theory of Evolution by Lia Bigelow (girl with two moms struggles in 8th grade), 3rd-7th
- From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jaqueline Woodson (Black boy struggles when mom comes out with a white partner), 5th-9th
- Frankie & Bug by Gale Forman (Bug discovers and accepts non-gender binary people in her life), 3rd-7th
- The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan (Muslim parents catch daughter with girl; future in question), 9th-12th
